NATO aircraft land on German autobahn
In 1984, forty years ago, an exercise involving many nations was carried out by NATO aircraft to evaluate the alliance’s ability to use specific prepared sections of the German autobahn as emergency airstrips.
According to the US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Facebook page, the West German government developed 23 distinct autobahn sections that could be transformed into airstrips in less than twenty-four hours, employing concepts similar to today’s Agile Combat Employment (ACE). This included building guardrails that were simple to remove, burying phone and electrical lines close to the strips, and designating areas where NATO forces could establish command and support capabilities required to run an airfield.
There could be two uses for these airstrips. First, the autobahn airstrips could be used as a backup in case the Warsaw Pact destroyed NATO airbases in West Germany. Secondly, in the case of a war with the Warsaw Pact, the airstrips may provide NATO with the airfield capacity to handle additional aircraft in West Germany.
HIGHWAY 84 Exercise
The HIGHWAY 84 Exercise tested one of these strips. A section of the A29 near Ahlhorn, Lower Saxony (in northwestern Germany, near the former RAF Ahlhorn) had just been completed and had not been opened to traffic. This was the ideal chance to test a section of the autobahn without too much inconvenience to West Germans.
Over several days, West German, American, British, French, Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian, and Danish aircraft took turns landing, refueling, and rearming on the prepared airstrip. The exercise demonstrated the airstrip’s capability to handle a range of aircraft, including F-15s, F-16s, F-104s, A-10s, C-130s, French Mirages, and British Tornados, while also providing NATO members with an opportunity to practice using the airstrip. For the exercise, specialists in airfield operations erected temporary lighting, communications, and other systems for the exercise.
The ACE concept
Since 1984 and ever since, the idea of using highways as emergency airstrips has persisted. Since then, USAF A-10s have practiced highway landings as part of the ACE concept in both Estonia and the US.
A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, a MQ-9 Reaper, MC-130J Commando II, and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters landed and took off on Wyoming’s Highways 287 and 789 in April and May of 2023. On June 29, 2022, M-28, one of Michigan’s longest, flattest, straightest highways, saw the landing of C-146 Wolfhound, U-28A Draco, and A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft instead.
The exercise featured several firsts, including the first time a US Air Force aircraft had weapons (in the form of AIM-9 Sidewinders, JDAM bombs, AGM-65 Mavericks, rockets, and targeting pods) loaded on a public highway. The weapons used in the exercise were inert. A-10s performed a similar training exercise in August 2021 on highway M-32 near Alpena. Moreover, A-10 aircraft from the Michigan National Guard previously landed on highways in Haapsalu, Estonia, during Exercise Saber Strike 18.
Furthermore, the air forces of Sweden and Finland frequently practice landings on sections of their respective highways. However, HIGHWAY 84 was a successful proof of concept and NATO’s biggest exercise to date to test the idea.
Photo by U.S. Air Force and NATO
