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A hardened aircraft shelter (HAS) or protective aircraft shelter (PAS) is a reinforced hangar to house and protect military aircraft from enemy attack. Cost considerations and building practicalities limit their use to fighter size aircraft.
HASs are a passive defence measure (i.e., they limit the effect of an attack as opposed to active defences, such as surface-to-air missiles, which aim to prevent or at least degrade enemy attacks.) The widespread adoption of hardened aircraft shelters can be traced back to lessons learned from Operation Focus in the 1967 Arab–Israeli Six-Day War, when the Israeli Air Force destroyed the unprotected Egyptian Air Force, at the time the largest and most advanced air force in the Arab world, at its airfields’ airbases.[ citation needed ]
As with many military items, whether structures, tanks or aircraft, its most prolific use was during the Cold War. NATO and Warsaw Pact countries built hundreds of HASs across Europe. In this context, hardened aircraft shelters were built to protect aircraft from conventional attacks, as well as nuclear, chemical and biological strikes. NATO shelters, built to standard designs across the continent, were designed to withstand a direct hit by a 500 lb (226 kg) bomb, or a near miss by a larger one (i.e., 1,000 lb+). In theory, HASs were also built to protect aircraft in a nuclear strike; however, the effect of such an attack on airfield taxiways, runways, support facilities and personnel would have made any retaliatory mission extremely difficult, and subsequent return and rearming almost impossible.
In the post-Cold War era, the value of the HAS concept was further eroded by the introduction of precision-guided munitions (PGM).[ citation needed ] Iraq's HAS hangars were built to a standard somewhat higher than NATO or Warsaw Pact shelters, but nevertheless proved almost useless during the Gulf War.[ citation needed ] Early attempts to defeat them typically used a "one-two punch" using a TV-guided missile to blast open the doors, followed by bombs tossed in the front. US efforts soon turned to simply dropping a 2,000 lb laser guided bomb on the top, which would easily penetrate the roof and explode within.[ citation needed ] With that being said, however, NATO hangars would still remain useful against the forces of any enemy as might conceivably engage Europe in an armed conflict in the short term (whose capabilities generally lack precision guidance systems needed to defeat the defensive shield such hangars offer).[ citation needed ]
Kevlar-lined deployable shelters could protect aircraft from bomblets (a common anti-airfield weapon). However, this would provide no protection from PGMs.
Wider dispersal (distance between aircraft) at airbases would decrease the vulnerability of aircraft. This would also force an enemy to increase the number of attacking aircraft greatly, or spend more time over the target. Either way, the effect of airfield defences would take a heavy toll on the aggressor. However, like HAS, dispersal can be expensive, requiring massive construction of hardstanding. Defence against enemy special forces is also more difficult.
Dispersing aircraft between many bases (such as satellite landing aerodromes) greatly increases the cost of attacking a given number of aircraft, as measured by the number of attack aircraft required. However, this option similarly increases the defenders' cost of operation and degrades their efficiency.
Dispersal of aircraft to road runways will present the attacker with a multitude of targets which cannot be simultaneously attacked. Survivability is enhanced if the defender also chooses to use mobile tactics, using each highway strip for a limited number of sorties before moving on to another. With penny packets of two to four aircraft at each location, such a tactic increases the difficulty of effective co-ordination, and command and control, it also increases vulnerability to attack from the ground. However, with adequate planning these are not insurmountable problems.
Several air forces have used tunnels dug into a mountainside as underground hangars.
Sweden developed its own alternative during the Cold War. In the late 1950s, the Swedish Air Force introduced the Bas 60 airbase system, which revolved around both the principle of dispersal between bases and dispersal at bases simultaneously. Road runways (highway strips) were also introduced as alternative bases. Bas 60 was primarily a response to the nuclear threat, so in the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967, and the introduction of long range attack aircraft, such as the Sukhoi Su-24, the system was further developed into Bas 90. Improvements in the Bas 90 system included construction of short backup runways in the direct vicinity of the airbases, and further dispersion of aircraft positioning and ground operations. The Swedish Air Force Rangers were also raised specifically to counter the threat of infiltrating enemy special forces. [2] [3] [4] [5]
An airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a military base by a military force for the operation of military aircraft.
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Offensive counter-air(OCA) is a military term for the suppression of an enemy's military air power, primarily through ground attacks targeting enemy air bases: disabling or destroying parked aircraft, runways, fuel facilities, hangars, air traffic control facilities and other aviation infrastructure. Ground munitions like bombs are typically less expensive than more sophisticated air-to-air munitions, and a single ground munition can destroy or disable multiple aircraft in a very short time whereas aircraft already flying must typically be shot down one at a time. Enemy aircraft already flying also represent an imminent threat as they can usually fire back, and therefore destroying them before they can take off minimizes the risk to friendly aircraft.
Royal Air Force Station Wildenrath, commonly known as RAF Wildenrath, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase near Wildenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that operated from 1952 to 1992. Wildenrath was the first of four 'clutch' stations built for the Royal Air Force in West Germany during the early 1950s.
NATO Dispersed Operating Bases (DOBs) were developed to improve air power survival when NATO began planning for tactical air bases and aircraft in western Europe during the early Cold War years of the 1950s.
Dispersal is a military practice of dispersing or spreading out potentially vulnerable military assets, such as soldiers, aircraft, ships, tanks, weapons, vehicles, and similar equipment of an army, navy, or air force. Its primary objective is to minimise any potential effects of collateral damage, from incoming munitions such as artillery, bombs and missiles. Dispersal increases the number of artillery rounds needed to neutralise or destroy a military unit in proportion to the dispersal of the said unit. If a division doubles the area it takes up, it will double the number of artillery rounds needed to do the same damage to it. As more targets are spread out or dispersed, more artillery and / or bombs are required to hit all the individual targets.
Royal Air Force Rackheath, more commonly known as RAF Rackheath, is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Rackheath, approximately 6 miles north-east of Norwich, in the county of Norfolk in England.
A road runway or road base or highway strip (US), is a section of a automotive public road, highway, motorway, or similar, that is specially built to act as a runway for (primarily) military aircraft, and to serve as an emergency or auxiliary military airbase. These runways allow military aircraft to continue operating even if the runway at their respective airbases are degraded, damaged, or destroyed.
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Laon-Athies Air Base is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the city of Laon in the Aisne department of France.
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An underground hangar is a type of hangar for military aircraft, usually dug into the side of a mountain for protection. It is bigger and more protected than a hardened aircraft shelter (HAS).
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Ubaydah Bin Al Jarrah Air Base is an Iraqi Army Aviation Corps base near Kut, Wasit Governorate, Iraq. It was captured by U.S.-led Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Air force ground forces and special forces are the land warfare forces of an air force. They may include infantry, special forces, security forces, and military police. Airmen assigned to such units may be trained, armed and equipped for ground combat and special operations.
Bas 60 was an air base system developed and used by the Swedish Air Force during the Cold War. The system was based around defensive force dispersal of aircraft and its supporting ground operations across many krigsflygbaser in case of war, primarily as a protective measure against nuclear weapons. The purpose of the system was to make it complicated for an opponent to destroy the Swedish Air Force on the ground and thus ensure endurance for the air force in a conflict scenario. The plan was to disperse the air units so one krigsflygbas would house one squadron. This dispersion principle also applied to the individual wartime bases themselves, meaning that the various functions of an air base were spread over a large area in and around the base.
Bas 90 was an air base system used by the Swedish Air Force during the Cold War. Bas 90 was developed during the 1970s and 1980s from the existing Bas 60 system in response to the new threats and needs that had arisen since the conception of the Bas 60 system during the 1950s. Like its predecessor, the Bas 90 system was based around defensive force dispersal of aircraft across many krigsflygbaser in case of war, as well as dispersion of the air base functions within the individual bases themselves. The air units would have been dispersed so one squadron would be stationed per krigsflygbas. The system was a protective measure against nuclear weapons and airstrikes, to make it complicated for an opponent to destroy the Swedish Air Force on the ground and thus ensure endurance for the air force in a conflict scenario.
