This is not the first time the Swiss Air Force has practiced on Swiss freeways
Published: Wednesday, Jun 5th 2024, 09:30
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The military exercise with eight F/A-18 fighter jets on the A1 in the canton of Vaud is not a first for the Swiss Air Force. Similar tests on national highways were carried out a total of ten times during the Cold War, army spokesman Mathias Volken told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The deteriorating security situation in Europe is one reason for conducting such an exercise - the army wants to comprehensively and consistently strengthen its defense capability in all areas of activity, as the Defense Group of the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) writes on its website.
The first such test took place in 1970 on what was then the N1 between Oensingen and Härkingen in the canton of Solothurn. Fighter jets landed on a Swiss freeway for the first time on the two-kilometer straight section of road. The exercise was hailed as a great success and was seen as a model for later highway landings, wrote SRF in a report in January.
The first test in 1970 was followed by nine further exercises throughout Switzerland. These took place near Flums SG (1997, 1985), in Alpnach OW (1978, 1988), in Münsingen BE (1974, 1982), in Aigle-Bex VD (1980) and in Sion (1988), the report continued. The last exercise to date was carried out by the Air Force in 1991 at Lodrino TI.
Freeway temporarily becomes a runway
In order to train take-offs and landings, the section of the A1 will be temporarily converted into a runway for the military exercise. According to Volken, the section of highway near Payerne was already prepared for fighter jet exercises when it was built in 1995. It is also suitable because of the volume of traffic, the possibility of setting up bypasses and the direct connection to the Payerne military airfield.
In addition to certain stretches of freeway, former military airfields that are now used for civilian purposes are also suitable for the decentralized deployment of military aircraft, according to the DDPS website.
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