RAF Fast Jets To Practice Dispersal Off MOBs
 

Russia Threat Could See U.K. Fighter Jets Operating From Highways Once Again (thedrive.com)

CAS has announced there will be no-notice exercises for this.

A lot of preparation is going to be needed in terms of planning / resourcing how all the required GSE and drill weapons for re-arms gets moved to multiple locations at once, how a limited pool of aircraft spares is split between locations and moved, what comms SEngO / JEngOs will be provided with to keep a grip on what is going on etc.

Surely this sort of training is just synthetic?

I suspect CAS's recent meeting with CSAF (USAF) has a part in this - where the USAF's Agile Combat Employment initiative as part of #acceleratechangeorloose was likely mentioned.

The recent "all eggs in one basket with one runway" situation at Brize Norton will have reinforced it.

He obviously does not read what’s happening in the world, I wish him luck.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ucks-move.html


Plus on top of that the Government insist on building all those overhead concrete monstrosities for smart motorways etc, why they never legislated that cars must be able to transmit it to the drivers by xyz.. so you will be trying to land through overhead cables and overhead gantries… the Jag only had to struggle to find a straight bit of road without a bridge over it.

What you need is a fighter that has rough field capability like the Jag or the Harrier, both of which we binned, I’d hate to think how an F35 will standup to sitting in a lay-by.


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Nutty,

The Jag needed a runway the length of the M-1 from one end to the other as I seem to recall.

There's quite a lot of motorway that isn't 'smart' or planned to be so, and quite a lot of other possible road that could be used - it may not even have to be dual-carriageway, depending on the aircraft. But it's not as easy as 'let's land there' in a once-off trial. For practical use you'd need to prepare and build in facilities on the ground, as was done in Germany, so as to be able to adapt to sustained operation.

Does anyone know whether any bits of road in the UK have been designated as potential sites? As a casual driver-around-the-UK, not many roads seem to me to be straight enough or flat enough!

F35 exhaust heat profile has been a problem for the USN probably burn holes in motorways with major FOD issues.

Jumping bean needed 650ft x 28ft plus a barn or two to hide in - most Tesco car parks would do, with hides in the drinks section. Good luck with the present generation of FJ.

Mog

"F35 exhaust heat profile has been a problem for the USN probably burn holes in motorways with major FOD issues."

Given the deteriorating surface on most UK roads who would notice the difference?

To start with why not look at Joint User (Civilian/Mil) airfields with Fast Jets, especially Air Defence assets deployed across a number of airfields. You could call them Middleton St George and Horsham St Faith for example. The French have done this since 911 to great effect. It needs a new mindset.

There could be Sqn Ldrs in charge of a deployed flight of 6 aircraft, imagine the responsibility, and trust required.

This is of course a large aircraft problem as well. Take out Brize and where would the RAF/Army be with no AT or AAR? Again, it needs a radical rethink.

This problem is far greater than the successors to the Jaguar and Harrier doing press-ups on the M56 or an Autobahn in Europe.

At long last ..the M6 Toll may actually have a use !

Finding roads unencumbered by potholes would be a challenge around these parts...

There's rumoured to be one on the A1 about 2 or 3 miles north of Woolfox Lodge disused airfield; fairly straight with taxiway leadon/offs which appear never to have been fully completed, otherwise you could always take a look at Cyprus for examples (x3).

Not to mention roundabouts, bike lanes, signs, speed humps, traffic calming measures etc.

Imagine the local country copper pulling over the F35 driver for speeding, insufficient tread on the tyres, excessive noise and displaying a MOT certificate!

The local council OH&S people would get a whiff of that Jet fuel and have a field day.

This realistically means dispersal at civvy (and probably ex RAF) airfields. You lot are getting hung up on roads, which isn't likely.

Think Stornoway, West Fruegh, Finningley, that kind of place.

Not a problem with the UK roads, ours come prebuilt with potholes already installed.

What, like Aldergrove used to be?

mogwi,
you owe me a new keyboard. The bit about hiding in the drinks section of Tesco was priceless and caused me to spill my coffee. Worth it though.

I've spotted a few over the years. Best example is the A74(M) north of Lockerbie - next to the Lockerbie lorry park at Hanginshaw.
From the farm bridge at the south end to the start of the gentle right curve at the north is 2200m or 7200 feet with no obstructions and an easily demountable central wire barrier...........

The M5 between J12 and 13 is somewhat wider than average and was allegedly the runway of the (now long gone) airfield just south of Glos. Mind you can you imagine the chaos if part of the motorway system was not available for its primary use for even a day or so.