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Afghanistan/South Asia
US builds new Afghan airbase
2004-04-26
The US military is building a new airbase in south-eastern Afghanistan, in a remote desert area near the border with Pakistan. US commanders say the airstrip, in Paktika province, will be capable of taking large transport aircraft. The move is aimed at improving security in the region. It should also allow US forces to move in more ground troops to combat remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaeda, who remain active in the area. The operation began in the dark, with five giant US air force planes dropping tons of construction equipment onto the desert plateau where the airstrip is being built. Under the terms of being with the unit of US soldiers, the exact location cannot be given.
Kind of hard to hide a entire airbase
I planted hedges around mine. Nobody ever notices it...
Soldiers on the ground guided in the planes, which had flown all the way from Germany. Work began soon afterwards, bulldozing the hard, rocky scrub. In less than four days' time, the troops of the 27th Combat Engineering Battalion aim to have created an airstrip capable of taking C-130 transport aircraft. Even larger aircraft will eventually be able to land here.
C-17s most likely, plus the AC-130s, A-10s and choppers.
US commanders will not say exactly how they intend to use the base, but it will allow them to move far larger forces into this region more quickly. This is an area where suspected Taleban militants remain active and just across the border is the Pakistani tribal area of Waziristan, where until recently Islamic militants were battling the Pakistani military.
Humm, giving up on the Pak offensive and prepping for our own?
The new American presence on this side of the border has so far attracted little attention, apart from a few trucks on a nearby road. But US forces are keeping a close watch on the area, with aircraft patrolling as well as troops on the ground.
Gee, a new air base out in the middle of nowhere with nobody watching. Somebody has a plan to open a new can of whoop ass.
Posted by:Steve

#18  The closeness of the Airbase to anti al Qaeda operations -- especially the hunt for top leaders -- make sense for getting the most out of resources. UAVs will play a large role. Imagine armed UAVs with Viper Strike glide weapons and software image recognition technology highlighted at

http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aerospacedaily_story.jsp?id=news/bat04134.xml.

If that story is for real, things will get interesting very quickly.
Posted by: VRWconspiracy   2004-04-26 11:04:41 PM  

#17  OP-
There's two stretches of road identical to what you described in the area where I grew up - one next to a tank plant that used to be owned by GM, and another next to a Big 3 assembly plant. People never listened to me when I tried to tell them...

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2004-04-26 7:53:11 PM  

#16   its been rumored that there are stretches of highway here in the US that were made for the same purpose....
Interstate highways that travel straight for ten miles or more that are three lanes wide but don't have ten cars an hour over them, back country highways that suddenly become MUCH wider than they need to be, a lot of "passing lanes" in out-of-the-way places that take a normal highway into something 300 feet wide and over two miles long...
Naaaaa, we don't have anything like that! Whatever gave you such a silly idea? 8^)
Posted by: Old Patriot   2004-04-26 7:21:50 PM  

#15  C-17s most likely, plus the AC-130s, A-10s and choppers.

I would assume that they have plans to secure the larger surrounding area. It would be a hell of a black eye to lose a Globemaster or Galaxy to enemy fire while on approach.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-04-26 5:06:46 PM  

#14  John, I agree. But I've seen it from the air several times. I walked a good portion of the real runway, too and never saw any evidence of cratering. A lot of the bombs did miss the decoy. I guess the IAF just did a good job of figuring out the distance between the two necessary to minimize damage to the real one.

OTOH, I've flown over the Egyptian border forts from the '67 war also. If a single IDF round or bomb landed outside the fortress walls, I couldn't see any evidence of it.
Posted by: 11A5S   2004-04-26 4:27:01 PM  

#13  YS - it was required that every interstate highway be constructed so as to provide air landing capability. Note the regularly spaced long straight stretches
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-26 4:11:40 PM  

#12  11A5S, somehow I don't picture Egyptian bombers accurate enough to never hit the real runway.
Posted by: john   2004-04-26 4:00:23 PM  

#11  I'm just wanting to see a D-9 make a parachute landing.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-04-26 3:49:17 PM  

#10  its been rumored that there are stretches of highway here in the US that were made for the same purpose....
Posted by: Yosemite Sam   2004-04-26 3:49:14 PM  

#9  Also, have you ever driven the causeway from the Singapore airport to the city? There is a reason that the median consists completely of potted plants.

Yup, to a trained AF eye it jumps right out. Also those straight highways in Switzerland that take a sudden turn just before those big doors in the side of a mountain.
Posted by: Steve   2004-04-26 2:46:49 PM  

#8  OP: I saw the Israeli airfield at Ras Nas Mohamed in the Sinai. They built a dirt strip next to the concrete strip. They would light up the dirt strip at night and leave the real one dark. The Egyptians would come screaming in at night and bomb the decoy strip. Nine years after the Israelis turned it over, the decoy strip was completely cratered while there was no evidence that the real strip had ever been bombed.

Also, have you ever driven the causeway from the Singapore airport to the city? There is a reason that the median consists completely of potted plants.
Posted by: 11A5S   2004-04-26 2:10:38 PM  

#7  Yosemite Sam.. you nearly made me spit my soda on the company computer!
Posted by: Dcreeper   2004-04-26 1:26:51 PM  

#6  You'd be surprised how easy it is to hide an airfield. We have three or four that are almost impossible to see, even from the air. The Soviets hid one we probably would never have found, if we hadn't caught an aircraft on the runway. Camouflage, concealment, and deception is something we do quite well. Hiding the BUILDING of one is another matter...
Posted by: Old Patriot   2004-04-26 12:43:57 PM  

#5  but he agreed to accept them before he agreed to decline them.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam   2004-04-26 11:43:42 AM  

#4  It was only RIBBONS! LOL.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-04-26 11:00:00 AM  

#3  oh my god! just how is biefing up forces in this area a decoy?? what a little free time at dnc hq? dumbass!

so what would you call a prez who pisses on the US military by throwing away medals? (be it your own or someone ele's!) a surrender!
Posted by: Dan   2004-04-26 10:55:32 AM  

#2  Also a second air front against Iran
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-26 10:55:12 AM  

#1  Maybe this is just a decoy..you know to atract the jihadi to attack America, another flypaper thingy.
Posted by: Anonymous4464   2004-04-26 10:41:30 AM  

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