Indian Il-76 makes record high-altitude landing near China border

The Indian Air Force has landed an Il-76MD heavy transport aircraft at Nyoma airbase in eastern Ladakh, about 4,150 meters (13,629 feet) above sea level.

The service said in a post that it was the highest-altitude landing the aircraft type has ever made anywhere in the world.

The Il-76MD is a four-engine Soviet-designed airlifter that carries troops, vehicles and heavy cargo. Landing one that high is harder than it sounds. Thin mountain air gives the engines less thrust and the wings less lift, so a heavy aircraft has to approach faster and needs more runway to stop. Pilots also have to deal with the steep terrain and shifting winds around Himalayan airfields.

The Indian Air Force said the landing was “a remarkable demonstration of the aircraft’s enduring capability, backed by the exceptional skill, precision, and professionalism of its crew.”

Nyoma, also called Mudh-Nyoma, sits about 23 km (14 miles) from the Line of Actual Control, the disputed boundary between India and China. The site began as a small landing ground. It was reactivated in 2009, when an An-32 transport became the first aircraft to land there after a long gap, and was later rebuilt into a full airbase with a 2.7 km (1.7-mile) runway.

Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh opened the upgraded base in November 2025, arriving on a C-130J Super Hercules transport, The Tribune reported. Indian officials have described Nyoma as one of the highest operational military airfields in the world and plan to use it for fighter jets as well as transport aircraft.

Until now, the base had mostly handled smaller transports such as the C-130J and An-32. Putting an Il-76 on the runway shows that Nyoma can take India’s heavy airlifters too, which can move far more troops and equipment into eastern Ladakh in a single trip. Since the 2020 border clashes with China, the Indian Air Force has relied heavily on airlift to supply tens of thousands of troops stationed in the region, especially in winter, when snow closes the mountain roads.

The Il-76 has served with the Indian Air Force since the mid-1980s, where it is known as the Gajraj. The service flies it alongside the U.S.-built C-17 Globemaster III and C-130J, and has been weighing upgrades and an eventual replacement for its aging Il-76 fleet.