Hercules C130J Arrives At India's Juhu Airport For Military Exercise

India’s cargo plane Hercules C130J landed at Mumbai’s Juhu airport early Tuesday as part of a military exercise.

It landed on the tiny runway of the western suburbs of the city. Most aircraft of this size require a runway with conventional dimensions of a fully functional airport. However, the Hercules can land on much shorter lengths of unpaved or paved runways. The runway at the Juhu aerodrome is 3750 feet long, very short compared to the 12008 feet long runway at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).

The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted its first C-130J-30 Super Hercules on 5 February 2011. The remaining five on order were delivered by the end of 2011, and operated by 77 Squadron, the Veiled Vipers.

IAF has six C-130J-30s in service as of January 2012.