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).
An underground hangar complex may include tunnels containing the normal elements of a military air base—fuel storage, weapon storage, rooms for maintaining the aircraft systems, a communications centre, briefing rooms, kitchen, dining rooms, sleeping areas and generators for electrical power.
Countries that have used underground hangars include Albania, China, Italy, North Korea, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Yugoslavia, Iran, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Africa and Pakistan.
In 2023, Iran unveiled a large underground base called "Eagle 44": in this base, Iran's upgraded F-4 Phantom fighters were present under Shahid Doran. Also, pictures and replicas of Su 35 were seen in that base. This base, where Iranian drones are also present, is probably somewhere in the south of Iran. While broadcasting a video of another base, on the other side of which 24 Fenser planes equipped with +2000 km cruises, Iran announced that it has more underground bases that will be unveiled in the future.
Eight Israeli air force F-16I Sufa fighter aircraft were damaged in the winter of early 2020 by flooding when they were improperly left inside underground hangars in a Negev desert airbase during severe flooding. [1] The Washington Post reported in 2012 based on the results FOIA requests to the US government that the US Army Corps of Engineers brought in US construction contractors to build installations in the south of Israel including underground hangars for fighter-bombers as a part of US military aid to Israel. [2]
Built in World War II on the Island of Pantelleria. [3]
In 1941 the Swedish Air Force began building its first underground hangar at Göta Wing (F 9), located near Gothenburg in south-west Sweden, it was commissioned in 1944. [4] After World War II plans were made up for building underground hangars at every air force base that had suitable rock conditions. These ambitious building plans proved to be too expensive and were reduced to hangars at certain select air bases. [5] A second underground hangar was built in 1947 at Södertörn Wing (F 18). [4] After that plans were finalized for building underground hangars capable of surviving close hits by tactical nuclear weapons. This required that these new hangars be much deeper, with 25 to 30 meters of rock cover, and heavy-duty blast doors in concrete. [5] The Saab 37 Viggen aircraft was designed with a folding tail fin to fit into low hangars. The Aeroseum, an aircraft museum open to the public in Gothenborg, is housed in the larger cold war era Underground Hangar at Säve. [6]
Six Flugzeugkaverne (aircraft caverns), each with space for 30 or more aircraft, were constructed for the Swiss Air Force. One at Meiringen Air Base has been expanded to operate F/A-18 Hornet aircraft. [7] Originally, the plan for the aircraft hangar (German Kavernenflugplatz) included the possibility of launching combat aircraft from the mountain air base. High costs and technical difficulties prevented these plans from being realised. [8] [9] The idea of using roads as runways was later part of the design demands for the Swiss motorway network. [10] [11]
Chiashan Air Force Base, located in Hualien, has an extensive underground hangar system which can accommodate two hundred aircraft. [12]
Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County can accommodate eighty aircraft in underground hangars. [13]
The "Objekat" series of military installations can be found in secluded but strategically important areas within the former Yugoslavia, and the construction of these military bases were initialized by the SFRJ's defence ministry.
During the Yugoslav Wars, most of these bases were used by the Serbs in certain operations, but due to circumstances imposed by the Croat forces, they were destroyed and later rendered useless for military use.
Nowadays, they are popular for urban exploration, however it is risky due to the chances of anti-personnel landmines being located in unexplored areas. However, some were spared the destruction due to other circumstances where the Serbs did not control these installations. An example of some that are still in use to this day is the D-0 Armijska Ratna Komanda nuclear bunker in Konjic; the latter was turned into an art complex, but is still owned by the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The largest underground hangar complex in former Yugoslavia was at Željava Airport near Bihać, with enough space for 80 MiG-21s.
Slatina Air Base, located at Pristina International Airport, contained the second largest.
There are at least twenty major airfields with underground hangars in North Korea, including Onchon air base, Kang Da Ri Airport and Sunchon Airport. [14]
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.
The Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word hangar comes from Middle French hanghart, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *haimgard, from *haim and gard ("yard"). The term, gard, comes from the Old Norse garðr.
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.
Tonopah Test Range Airport, at the Tonopah Test Range is 27 NM southeast of Tonopah, Nevada, and 140 mi (230 km) northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a 12,000 ft × 150 ft runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination. The facility has over fifty hangars and an extensive support infrastructure.
RAAF Base Townsville is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air base located in Garbutt, 2 nautical miles west of Townsville in Queensland, Australia. It is the headquarters for No. 1 Wing Australian Air Force Cadets and, along with Lavarack Barracks, establishes Townsville as a key military centre. The base's airfield is shared with the Townsville Airport.
Nevatim Airbase, also Air Force Base 28, is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) base, located 15 km east-southeast of Beersheba, near moshav Nevatim in the Negev desert. It is one of the largest in Israel and has three runways of different lengths. Stealth fighter jets, transport aircraft, tanker aircraft and machines for electronic reconnaissance/surveillance, as well as the so-called Israeli Air Force One, are stationed there.
Željava Air Base, situated on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Plješevica mountain, near the city of Bihać, was the largest underground airport and military air base in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), and one of the largest in Europe. The facilities are shared by the local governments of Bihać and Lika-Senj County of Croatia.
Quzhou Airport, also called Quzhou Air Base is a dual-use military and civil airport located 2.9 kilometers east of the city of Quzhou in Zhejiang Province, China. Originally only a military airfield for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, the airport was first expanded for use by American bombers during World War II, and was later occupied by Japanese troops. A small passenger terminal opened to commercial flights on 26 November 1993, though expanded commercial use of the airport has been hampered by continued heavy military presence due to the airport's proximity to the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Airlines operating out of Quzhou Airport generally operate medium to large narrow-body aircraft, such as the Boeing 737. Quzhou's commercial passenger terminal is unique in being separated from the airport's two aircraft bays by a lake, requiring passengers to walk across a lengthy causeway before boarding. The airport serves as the base of operations for regional carrier Quzhou Airlines.
Svea Air Corps, also F 8 Barkarby, or simply F 8, is a former Swedish Air Force air corps wing with the main base located in Barkarby just north of the capital Stockholm on the east coast.
Göta Wing, also F 9 Säve, or simply F 9, was a Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Gothenburg in south-west Sweden.
A highway strip, road runway or road base is a section of a highway, motorway or other form of public road that is specially built to act as a runway for (mostly) military aircraft 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.
Grand Island Army Airfield was a United States Army Air Forces airfield which operated from 1942 to 1946. After its closure, the base was reopened as Central Nebraska Regional Airport.
Aircraft cavern, a calque of the German word Flugzeugkaverne, is an underground hangar amongst others used by the Swiss Air Force.
H-2 Air Base is a former Iraqi Air Force base in the Al-Anbar Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by U.S.-led Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The H-3 airstrike was a surprise air attack by the Iranian Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War on 4 April 1981 against the airbases of the Iraqi Air Force at the H-3 Air Base in western Iraq. The Iranians destroyed at least 48 Iraqi aircraft on the ground with no losses of their own. Based on the results achieved, it is considered one of the most successful raids in the history of aerial warfare.
Meiringen Air Base, also known as the Unterbach Military Airfield, is a Swiss military airbase located near the hamlet of Unterbach and the town of Meiringen, in the canton of Bern. It is one of three main airbases of the Swiss Air Force.
Richards-Gebaur Memorial Airport is a former airport that operated alongside Richards-Gebaur Air Reserve Station until the base's closure in 1994, and until it was closed in 1999. Formerly, it was operated as Grandview Airport from 1941 until it was leased by the United States Army in 1944.
Dübendorf Military Airport was a military airfield of the Swiss Air Force northeast of Dübendorf in Switzerland, located east of Zürich.
The Buochs Airport is a regional airport in the town of Buochs in the Canton of Nidwalden in Switzerland. It has a concrete runway with a length of 2000 meters and a width of 40 meters, several taxiways and hangars.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Historic Buildings of the Swiss Air Force (German)External images | |
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Aircraft cavern | |
M113 in Cavern Turtmann | |
F-5E in Cavern | |
Hawker Hunter in Cavern | |
Patrouille Suisse F-5E in Cavern | |
F/A-18 and F-5 Cavern Meiringen |