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For the first time in decades, US Air Force A-10 attack aircraft have
practiced landing on highways, a tactic they originally developed in the 1980s
for operations in Germany. This time, the exercise took place in Estonia. (EPB
photo)
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By: Wording OD
Michigan National Guard attack aircraft practiced landing on and taking off
from the Jägala-Käravete Highway, a portion of the longer road known as Piibe
Highway, in Northern Estonia on Monday. The maneuvers were conducted as a part
of international military operation Saber Strike wherein pilots practiced
operating in a region with few actual airstrips and where alternatives would
have to suffice. At approximately 2 p.m. on June 20, four A-10 Warthogs
from the Michigan National Guard arrived in the vicinity of the Jägala-Käravate
Highway from Lielvārde Air Base, located southeast of the Latvian capital of
Riga, reported ETV’s nightly news broadcast “Aktuaalne kaamera.” As it
turned out, landing an attack aircraft on a highway was not exactly an everyday
activity for the American pilots.
