TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwanese fighter jets practiced landing on a highway that was temporarily closed to traffic early Wednesday, a rare drill to prepare pilots for the possible bombing of air bases by China, officials said.
Unlike a lot of stupid public drills that the ROC has done (i.e., driving tanks onto a beach to shoot at landing craft), this one is quite smart. It is also pretty damn difficult to pull off. I must say that I’m impressed. They should do this more often to bring to the public’s attention that the PRC’s missiles aren’t that threatening.
Hmmm. Those specially widened emergency strips have been there since the SYS freeway was built, but this is the first time I’ve heard of any drills being done. I didn’t see them show any actual landings on TV news, probably too afraid of stuffing up.
I watched the news yesterday and it is the first time it has ever been practiced before.
Apparently, they were concerned that the freeway would not be able to sustain the dynamic weight of the Mirage aircraft landing on it.
How heavy is a Mirage compared to overladen articulated trucks which pound down the freeway everyday? :loco:
[quote=“Dangermouse”]I watched the news yesterday and it is the first time it has ever been practiced before.
Apparently, they were concerned that the freeway would not be able to sustain the dynamic weight of the Mirage aircraft landing on it.
How heavy is a Mirage compared to overladen articulated trucks which pound down the freeway everyday? :loco:[/quote]
Just about any decently constructed highway can support a fighter jet. The pavement may not last as long as a properly constructed runway at the spot where they rotate, but they could easily do a couple of hundred take offs and landings on one stretch of road. The biggest problem with landing on a road is the chance of foreign object damage and power lines. Power lines aren’t a problem on the highway they used for this drill; there are intentionally none around it. Before they did the drill, hundreds of soldiers swept the road for foreign objects. That would obviously be impossible if jets scrambled in the first few minutes of a war had to find an airstrip after their airbase was destroyed. Landing on an unswept road is risky but possible. The pilot would just have to cut the engine all the way back as soon as he touched the pavement; it really wouldn’t even be safe to idle on an unswept highway. Take off from an unswept road is pretty well impossible. The chance for foreign object damage is just about 100%. The suck of the engine is just too great. My guess is that just to be extra safe, they chose the Mirages for this drill because the air intakes are higher than the intakes on an IDF or F-16. Nevertheless, there is no reason why they couldn’t do the same thing with F-16s or IDFs. Once they’ve swept the road, it’s as good as a proper airfield for quite a few take offs and landings.
This is not the first time this has been done. ROCAF F-5s and T-33s did the same type of drill on the same stretch of highway in 1978, just before the highway opened.
Not really a fair drill considering that none of the planes were carrying any bombs or perceived payloads.
This was just a publicity stunt for the benefit of the Chicoms and to “assure” the locals that the ROC has some sort of competence militarily.
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]Not really a fair drill considering that none of the planes were carrying any bombs or perceived payloads.
This was just a publicity stunt for the benefit of the Chicoms and to “assure” the locals that the ROC has some sort of competence militarily.[/quote]
A publicity stunt? Of course. What public drill isn’t? What do you mean by “fair drill?” It is just a drill, and the first one of it’s kind since 1978. You can hardly fault them for playing it safe. How many other countries have conducted such a drill?
Of course, if they’re really serious, they’ll do this more often and with drop tanks and missiles. They’ll also do something to make it easier to prepare the roads for use as runways. It took them seven hours to move the divider blocks off the road. They should also prepare to move massive amounts of munitions and fuel by truck to such highway sites. Doing this for two jets is one thing. Doing it without advanced notice for the 50 or so jets that will be scrambled in the first hour of a war is something entirely different.
The idea is to test out equipment, mobilization, readiness and the like for military drills. This was interesting, but in the event of a real war, the liklihood of this being of any benefit is remote. Also, you can be sure that the air force has maps of each and every roadway in the nation that can be used in case of a forced landing need. As has been mentioned, modern highways can be used for landings should they be needed, as long as there are no obstructions such as powerlines.
[quote=“Jive Turkey”]That would obviously be impossible if jets scrambled in the first few minutes of a war had to find an airstrip after their airbase was destroyed. Landing on an unswept road is risky but possible.[/quote]They also removed the barriers from the centre, which took SEVEN HOURS.
Once the shit was hitting the fan, no one would have to worry about herding spectators to the right places or detouring traffic. Not many people would be out with their digital cameras buying impromptu sausages and betenut to watch whether of the 500 ballistic missiles was going to fall on their heads.
Or they might, shit, this is Taiwan…
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]Not many people would be out with their digital cameras buying impromptu sausages and betenut to watch whether of the 500 ballistic missiles was going to fall on their heads.
Or they might, shit, this is Taiwan…[/quote]
I thought we did, during the 1996 missile crisis, some people rented a boat out the sea to see missiles flying over their head.
I don’t remember that specifically, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
If you were here in 1996 for that, first you will know that “crisis” is a huge “fish tale” of an exaggeration. Some editorialists beat a few drums over it and there was the usual discourse on talk shows, but as far as changing the day to day life of the citizenry – nada.
I was talking about real strikes against our soil, not saber-rattling.
I was watching the news, and it said it was the first time in 26 years or something that they did this, if I remember correctly.
Anyways, I doubt that Taiwan could actually do this highway take off in a real war. I heard that it was a major highway or something. When there is a war, civilians don’t stay put, they run away. When they run away, their cars are going to use that highway, and since there are so many people running away, the police or whatever force that tries to clear that highway up is going to take a long time. When that is done, they have to scan it for any of those objects that might hamper the fighter jet’s ability to take off.
Also, when the missiles hit the airbases, most of the fighters are going to be in the airbase, which means that most of them are going to be damaged or destroyed. Then, the military has to clear up the ravaged base so that the remaining undamaged fighters can get out.
It does seem like a far fetched strategy. It is common knowledge where all the highway strips are in Taiwan and the military planners in China are not completely stupid as to not know where they are. Any wise tactical attack on Taiwan by China will involve consideration of the emergency landing strips.
Taiwan has only thought about this in a half-hearted fashion. 8 hours to remove concrete dividers in peace time is different to removing them in the immediate event of a war breakout.
Logistically, moving fuel bowsers, maintenance facilities and temporary hangers will be a nightmare as all the Taiwanese residents panic and leave home.
26 years ago I wasn’t even born. In a situation as tense as the one between China and Taiwan, if this strategy is to be viable, it needs to be rehearsed on a full scale basis, regularly, including logistical support, management of the public and alternative strategies with alternating scenarios.
[quote]it is the first time it has ever been practiced before[/quote]. Hiiii:
So if something happens 26 years or something ago it has never happened before? That means that I have not been in existence for 20 years!
Look sharp, Hiiii.
Yes, the police are going to have to deal with all those Taipei drivers who are going to make a run for their property in Australia. Run to where?
Simply untrue. Taiwan is definitely not lacking in early warning radar. As soon as those missiles are launched, every pilot on the base will be on his way to getting in the air. Keep in mind that at all times, there are at least two jets on five minute alert for every air wing in Taiwan. For every one of those jets on five minute alert, there are three or four pilots and jets that could be in the air in fifteen to twenty minutes. Taiwan has seven fighter wings. That means that up to 42 jets would be in the air in less than 20 minutes. All of these numbers for ready jets would increase if the threat of war rose. It would be safe to assume that some of these jets will be armed with air-to-ground goodies for going straight after PRC assets.
It has been estimated that it would take anywhere from 10 to 50 DF15 or DF11 ballistic missiles to take an ROC airbase out of action. These missiles do not have GPS guidance. If enough of them get through, they could seriously fuck up Taiwan’s airbases. However, considering that they aren’t extremely accurate, it would take a lot of them to take out an airbase. The fastest these missiles can reach Taiwan is about eight minutes. Plenty of these missiles will be thinned out by ROC SAMS. Even with China’s 500 or so missiles in Fujian, they won’t necessarily be able to completely take out any Taiwanese airbases. All of this is assuming that the PRC will have the element of surprise on their side, which is pretty much impossible. US satellites pass over Fujian and Taiwan a dozen times a day. The button pushers for those missiles can’t even piss without the NSA knowing about it.