Sweden uses highways and revetments to disperse its fighter force across the country. Fascinating logistics. They've done this since the 1950s. But the highways have to have traffic control, be clear of obstacles, be stressed for the weight of a fighter, and be swept for FOD.I suppose they can take off from a long and straight enough road. I've seen the Thunderbirds do relatively short takeoffs at air shows and they don't really need a lot of width. They would just need a road without overhead obstacles like trees of wires over the road surface.
There was a myth that the US Interstate Highway system was built with improvised aircraft use in mind.
The weight of even an F-16 isn't a small consideration. With a Max Takeoff weight of around 40,000 lbs, most of which is on two skinny main landing gear, it will stress a road surface to a much greater degree than an 80,000 lb truck distributing the weight over 18 much larger tires.
Most asphalt surfaces simply could not handle the concentrated weight of an F-16. Nor could they handle the heat of an airplane in Full AB.
Additionally, the Swedish airplanes were built for very short takeoff, and very short landings. Something for which the F-16 was not designed. Famously, the Saab Viggen even had a thrust reverser. Few fighters had one. They added weight, but short field performance was critical to the dispersal plan, so the Viggen had one. Even the Gripen was designed for short field performance.
Don't confuse air show performance demonstrations with how the airplane performs with a full combat load. The F-16 is not a short field airplane.
How Sweden’s austere basing system influenced the Gripen
The Bas 90 system, which often nestled air strips amid forests and used highway roads as back-up runways, was partially dismantled after the end of the Cold War. However, in recent years the ideas behind the system are receiving renewed focus as Stockholm again has to face the specter of ...
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