Hercules C130 landing on Autobahn DoD DF-ST-84-09441

Autobahn Notlandeplatz A29 Ahlhorn DoD DF-ST-85-05075

A highway strip, road runway or road base is a section of a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

or other form of public road that is specially built to act as a

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

for (mostly)

military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are ...

and to serve as an auxiliary military air base. These runways allow military aircraft to continue operating even if their regular air bases, some of the most vulnerable targets in any war, are degraded or destroyed. The first highway strips were constructed near the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, where the well developed Reichsautobahn system allowed aircraft to use the motorways. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

highway strips were systematically built on both sides of the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...

, in many cases in response to

The Six Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

and Operation Focus in 1967, where the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

in a surprise air strike disabled many of their opponents' air bases in just a few hours. Countries that have built highway strips include both

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Design

The strips are usually straight sections of the highway, where any

central reservation The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also ...

is made of

crash barrier Traffic barriers (sometimes called Armco barriers,AK Steel (formerly Armco) genericized trademark also known in North America as guardrails or guard rails and in Britain as crash barriers) keep vehicles within their roadway and prevent them fro ...

s that can be removed quickly (in order to allow airplanes to use the whole width of the road), and other features of an airbase ( taxiways,

airport ramp The airport apron, apron, flight line, ramp, or tarmac is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, boarded, or maintained. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehic ...

s) can be built. The road will need a thicker-than-normal surface and a solid concrete base. The specialized equipment of a typical airfield are stored somewhere nearby and only carried there when airfield operations start. The highway strips can be converted from motorways to airbases typically within 24 to 48 hours. The road would need to be swept to remove any debris before use by aircraft. Road runways can however also be quite small—the short runways built in the Swedish Bas 90 system are commonly only in length. The

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh condi ...

-capability of the Viggen and

Gripen The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (; English: ''griffin'') is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stabilit ...

allowed for such short runways. In the case of Finnish road airbases, the space needed for landing aircraft is reduced by means of a wire, similar to the

CATOBAR CATOBAR ("Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery" or "Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery") is a system used for the launch and recovery of aircraft from the deck of an aircraft carrier. Under this technique, aircraft ...

system used on some aircraft carriers.

Around the world

A number of countries around the world utilise the strategy of highways constructed to double as auxiliary airbases in the event of war.

Australia

While not designed for military use, in

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a ...

Australia some sections of highway are maintained as emergency runways for use by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Glamoč,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

, the M15 road was used as a military airstrip. There is a clear example of how the road was widened for the needs of airplane landing.

China

In 1989 China conducted its first highway strip drills. They have since been conducted at later dates and in different areas of the country. In 2014 Chinese forces landed warplanes on a highway strip in Henan province for the first time.

Cyprus

After the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-s ...

, three highway strips were built in the Greek part of Cyprus, easily recognisable by a

centre line and markings for the touchdown zone. They also all have aircraft turning areas at either end. One is located on the A1 Limassol–Nicosia Highway () and one near the western end of the A5 Limassol–Larnaca highway (). The third is a much smaller strip located on the A6 Limassol-Paphos Highway near to

Paphos International Airport Paphos International Airport ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Πάφου; tr, Baf Uluslararası Havalimanı) is a joint civil-military public airport located southeast of the city of Paphos, Cyprus. It is the country's second larg ...

Estonia

During the Operation Saber Strike exercises in 2016 and 2018, A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from the US

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

operated from former

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

road runways in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

Finland

In the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

of 1939-1940 the

Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...

re-deployed its aircraft to makeshift airfields including frozen lakes to preserve them against Soviet air attack. The tactic was successful, with Soviet air raids on bases causing little damage and the vastly outnumbered Finnish aircraft scoring a high number of aerial victories. Throughout the

the Finnish Air Force maintained a network of secondary airfields including civilian airports and road bases to improve survivability and effectiveness in the event of war. As of 2017, all aircraft in the Finnish Air Force are capable of operating from road bases.Finnish Hornets on the road '' Combat Aircraft'' Volume 18 Number 1 January 2017 pp70-75 Currently Finland conducts drills on its road bases (), around once a year. In the Baana 16 exercise in 2016 the

Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...

flew F/A-18C and

BAE Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ...

and C295M aircraft from a highway in Lusi. The Finnish Air Force uses arresting cables to quickly stop F/A-18s, which were originally designed to operate from

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s. The

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the e ...

also took part in the 2015 and 2016 exercises, flying

fighters.

Germany

Germany has a number of highway strips (NLP-Str - , "emergency airfields on roads").

India

India has successfully tested its runway strip on a stretch of the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh on 21 May 2015. It was built at a cost of ₹130 billion for its combat jets of the IAF, a first for military aviation in the country. In June 2016, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways,

Nitin Gadkari Nitin Jairam Gadkari (; born 27 May 1957) is an Indian politician from Maharashtra who is the current Minister for Road Transport & Highways in the Government of India. He is also the longest serving Minister for Road Transport & Highways c ...

announced that the government was considering developing 'Road Runways' for commercial operations as well. India successfully tested another runway strip on a stretch of the

Agra Lucknow Expressway Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

in Uttar Pradesh on 24 October 2017. On September 9, 2021, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and the Minister of Defence

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

inaugurated India's first runway strip on a

National Highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans ...

in Barmer,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

and, a mock emergency landing was conducted with the two ministers and the

Air Chief Marshal Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a high-ranking air officer originating from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. An air chief marshal is equivalent to an Admi ...

R. K. S. Bhadauria Air Chief Marshal (India), Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria (born 15 September 1959), is a retired Indian Air Force officer, who served as the Chief of the Air Staff (India), Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, havin ...

on-board a

military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...

Japan

Hokkaido Prefecture is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The ...

the

Japan Self-Defense Forces The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, th ...

have Kenebetsu Air Base and Yakumo Sub Base as alternative air bases.

North Korea

North Korea has established a large number of highway strips to use in case of war.

Pakistan

, The M-1 Motorway (

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

) and the M-2 Motorway (Islamabad-

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

) each include two emergency runway sections of length each. The four emergency runway sections become operational by removing removable concrete medians using forklifts. The

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

(PAF) has used the M2 motorway as a runway on two occasions: for the first time in 2000 when it landed an F-7P fighter, a Super Mushak trainer and a

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desi ...

and, again, in 2010. On the last occasion, the PAF used a runway section on the M2 motorway on 2 April 2010 to land, refuel and take-off two jet fighters, a Mirage III and an F-7P, during its Highmark 2010 exercise. In March 2019, Pakistan also used a section of M2 motorway to land its fighter jets to demonstrate its capability.

Poland

A large number of highway strips (DOL - , lit "road airfield section") were built during the Cold War in Poland. As of 2003, only one highway strip is used annually for an exercise.

Singapore

The

Republic of Singapore Air Force The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establi ...

periodically conducts an "alternate runway exercise". It was first conducted on 17 April 1986 with F-5 and A-4 aircraft. The seventh exercise, "Torrent 2016", was conducted near Tengah Air Base in November 2016. Signs, street lights and other fixtures were removed, and landing equipment installed temporarily, which included mobile

arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBA ...

for the first time.

F-15SG The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relyi ...

and F-16C/D fighters participated in the 2016 exercise.

South Korea

As with North Korea, South Korea has also established a number of highway strips.

Soviet Union

A large number of highway strips were built in the former USSR (, "airfield part of road").

Sri Lanka

Tamil separatist group

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

operated in northern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

prior to their elimination in 2009, used highways as landing strips.

Sweden

started establishing road runways () as alternative bases with the introduction of the Bas 60 system in the late 1950s. The

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

in 1967 (where the Egyptian Air Force was grounded by a quick surprise attack on air bases) and the introduction of long range attack aircraft (primarily the Su-24) inspired further development, resulting in the Bas 90 system. Improvements in the Bas 90 system included construction of short backup runways in the direct vicinity of the air bases and further dispersion of ground operations. The Viggen and the

were both designed with

capability in order to utilize shorter runways. The

did not practice using their road bases for around a decade in the early 21st century, but in 2015 and 2016 its Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters participated in

Finnish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = 159 , equipment_label ...

road base drills. In September 2017, the air force conducted exercises on a number of road bases for the first time in over a decade.

Switzerland

A number of highway strips called NOLA/NOSTA () were set up from 1969 to 2004. *

Oensingen Oensingen is a municipality in the district of Gäu in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Oensingen is first mentioned in 968 as ''Oingesingin cum ecclesia''. Geography Oensingen has an area, , of . Of this area, or 39.7% is us ...

A1 (training: 1970 STRADA with

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...

), *

Münsingen Münsingen (Highest Alemannic: ''Münsige'') is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Trimstein merged into Münsingen, and on 1 January ...

A6 (training: 1974 STRADA with Venom,

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

and P-3. 1982 TAUTO with Hunter and

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

.), *

Flums Flums is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It is close to a large shopping complex and also is the gateway to a large skiing resort called ''Flumserberg''. History F ...

A13 (training: 1977 NOLA with Hunter and AA, 1985 TAUTO with Hunter and Tiger), *

Alpnach Alpnach is a village in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. It comprises the villages of Alpnach Dorf, Alpnachstad and Schoried. History Alpnach is first mentioned about 870 as ''Alpenacho''. Geography Alpnach has an area, , of . Of this are ...

A8 (NOSTA) connected to

Alpnach Air Base The Air Base Alpnach (International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO code LSMA) is a Swiss Air Force airfield near the town Alpnach in Canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. It has a concrete runway with a length of and a width of , as well as seve ...

(training: 1978 NOSTA with Hunter), * Lodrino A2 connected to Lodrino Air Base (training: 1991 STRADA with Hunter, Tiger and AA), *

Bex Bex (; german: Beis; frp, Bés) is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, located in the district of Aigle. It is a few kilometers south of its sister town municipality of Aigle. History Bex is first mentioned in 574 as ''in Bac ...

A9 (training: 1980 ABEX with 36 Hunter), * Sion A9 connected to Sion Air Base (training: 1988 with Tiger *

Payerne Payerne (; frp, Payèrna) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use. History The earl ...

A1 connected to Payerne Air Base.

Taiwan

Taiwan built a number of highway strips (, lit. "war spare runway").

United States

A persistent myth claims that "one mile in every five must be straight for use as an airstrip in times of war or other emergencies". However, no legislation containing this provision was ever passed. The Defense Highway Act of 1941 provided for the operation of "flight strips" ''alongside'' highways, but did not mandate the use of the road itself. For Exercise Northern Strike 2021, A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 354th Fighter Squadron and the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Wing along with two C-146A Wolfhounds from the Air Force Special Operations Command participated in the exercise. The aircraft landed on state highway M-32 as part of Northern Strike 21, a large-scale training exercise, in Alpena, Michigan. This was the first time US military aircraft had used highways as airstrips on US soil. The US Air Force repeated this training with the Rally in Rockies exercise in Sept. 12-17.

Gallery

File:Motorway 2, Pakistan 10.jpg, Road runway section on Pakistan's M-2 Motorway with removable medians. File:Thunderbold II A10 landing on autobahn 1984 DoD DF-ST-84-09440.jpg, An A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft lands on the autobahn A29 near city of Ahlhorn during NATO-exercise ''"Highway 84"''. File:A-10 Thunderbolt II takeoff on Autobahn DoD DF-ST-85-05084.jpg, Rear view of an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft as it takes off from the autobahn A29 near city of Ahlhorn during NATO-exercise ''"Highway 84"''. File:C130 Hercules taxidriving on Autobahn DoD DF-ST-84-09439.jpg,

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desi ...

aircraft on taxidrive on the autobahn A29 near city of Ahlhorn during NATO-exercise ''"Highway 84"''. File:Eneryda Flygfaelt 2008A.jpg, Former road runway near Eneryda, Sweden. File:Optands krigsflygfält.jpg, ''Kortbana'' (short runway) at former Optand wartime air base, Sweden. Notice the road becoming wider. File:C-146A Wolfhound from Hurlburt Field, Florida.jpg, C-146A Wolfhound from Hurlburt Field, Florida, takes off on a public highway in Alpena, Michigan, August 5, 2021 File:A-10 Highway US Michigan 2021 - Landing.jpg, An A-10 Thunderbolt II from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, prepares to land on a public highway in Alpena, Michigan, August 5, 2021 File:1000w q75.jpg, Air Force Reserve demonstrates strategic depth of combat airlift on Wyoming highway during training exercise,

References

{{reflist

Design

Around the world

Australia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

China

Cyprus

Estonia

Finland

Germany

India

Japan

North Korea

Pakistan

Poland

Singapore

South Korea

Soviet Union

Sri Lanka

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

United States

Gallery

See also

References