Nato allies practise wartime landings on Swedish roads

Nato countries are increasingly practising landings on Swedish roads, as concerns grow that Russian bombing could target airports in a war, SVT reports. The broadcaster joined the French air force for its first road landing in Sweden.

Seen from the air, the road appears narrow. Moments later, a French Casa CN235 transport aircraft is on Riksväg 44, a main road near Grästorp in Västergötland.

The aircraft, which has often been used in African countries and on islands in the Indian Ocean, arrived in Sweden with a unit from Normandy.

If runways near the front are destroyed, the aircraft can instead land on roads to evacuate injured people or transport fuel and ammunition, pilot Nathan said.

In recent years, more Nato countries have travelled to Sweden to practise road landings. For each exercise, the Skaraborg Air Flotilla effectively builds a small airport along the road, with fire engines, air traffic controllers and staff who close the road during landings.

Interest from different countries has increased, said Lieutenant Christofer, who is responsible for operations at the temporary road base. This is the second such exercise this year.

The increased interest follows Russia’s bombing of infrastructure in Ukraine. European armed forces have warned that Russia could act similarly against other countries in the event of war, making alternative ways to land and take off necessary.

If the main runways were blocked or made unusable by a threat or attack, the air force would have other runways available to continue its air operations, said Mattias Ottis, head of the Skaraborg Air Flotilla.

Nathan, who took part in the first French road landing in Sweden, said he expected more exercises of this kind in Scandinavia, including road landings and other types of air operations.

Road landing exercises

Road landings are part of the Swedish Air Force’s dispersal concept, under which aircraft must be able to take off and land from a relatively large number of locations, including certain stretches of road.

For road landings, the Swedish Armed Forces establish a temporary landing and take-off site. In peacetime, it applies to the county administrative board for permission. Mobile air traffic control is positioned near the road to direct aircraft on the ground.

This year, the Skaraborg Air Flotilla has held two major road landing exercises involving participants from the United States, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium and Sweden.