Can the runway survive?

SOMEWHERE in Florida, a Warsaw

Pact airfield is being subjected to the
worst the West has to offer. The
US Air Force lacking funds for
joint development of the UK JP233
anti-airfield submunitions dispenser,
is testing a number of existing
weapons in search of an effective
method of reducing Warsaw Pact
sortie rates.
Israel has demonstrated to devastating effect the value of anti-runway
strikes, immobilising the Egyptian Air
Force in the first few hours of the
1967 Six-Day War. Early destruction
of enemy airfields takes the pressure
off ground forces, and increases the
chances of survival for battlefield-support aircraft.
Counter air is the principal role of
Royal Air Force Tornado GR.ls, and
for similar reasons, the primary task
of Soviet Air Force Su-24 Fencers will
be the early destruction of Nato airfields, including those in the UK
"Uncle Sam's aircraft carrier"used
to bring in reinforcements from
across the Atlantic.
There are around 70 major military
airbases in West Germany, all within
250 miles of the East German border.
The 50 or so UK military airfields are
up to 750 miles distant. Scattered
across Europe are hundreds of civil
airports which could serve as standby airstrips for military aircraft.
Given this number of potential targets, the possibility of Warsaw Pact
anti-runway strikes paralysing Nato
air support seems remote. But is it?
Most modern combat aircraft can disperse to other, more austere bases,
but in one way or another, their
ability to perform a task is reduced.
While
most
high-performance
FLIGHT International,

3 October 198/

fighters use airfields with a main runway longer than 2,000m, their high installed thrust and low wing loading
allow them to operate from 1,000m
stripsprovided they are lightly
loaded and have some additional
means of braking, possibly a parachute or arrestor wire.
The A-101 can operate from grass
strips, creating a large number of
potential bases, but can do so only
at reduced weight, equivalent to
carrying four 5001b bombs and 720
rounds of 30mm ammunition. To
maintain the firepower delivered in
support of the troops, the aircraft has
to move closer to the battlefront.
A survey of more than 200: UK airfields shows that 120 have hard-surfaced runways longer than 1,000m:
of these 65 have runways longer than
2,000m. But the UK's status as the
focal point for Nato reinforcement
is crucial: of the 200 airfields, only
ten can accept a fully laden C-5
Galaxy.
Suddenly the Fencer's task seems
simpler. Other key aircraft require
long runways, notably tanker, airborne early warning, and maritime
patrol aircraft. All these aircraft are
"force multipliers" essential for Nato
to overcome the enemy's numerical
superiority. The defence of these airfields is of vital importance.
One form of defence is attack, and
it is for this reason that the US Air
Force is evaluating the Matra Durandal and Thomson-Brandt BAP100 conH e a d i n g The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Strike
Eagle all-weather fighter demonstrator carries
up to 22 Matra Durandal anti-runway bombs
under the wings, conformal fuel tanks, and
fuselage

crete-busting bombs. The evaluation,

at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, will
be completed in December, enabling
the USAF to take a procurement decision early next year.
Typically an aircraft will carry six
to ten Durandals, although the F-15
Strike Eagle can carry 22 on underwing and underfuselage
multiple
ejector racks. When Durandal is released, a parachute opens to slow
the bomb, creating a safe distance of
about 600m between the detonation
and the aircraft.
A second parachute then deploys
to swing the bomb round to an impact
angle of between 30 and 40 to the
horizontal, minimising the risk of a
ricochet. The rocket motor then
ignites to produce 90kN of thrust
lasting 0-45sec. Durandal strikes the
concrete at around 260m/sec.
After a lsec delay, the 15kg warhead explodes. Against reinforced
concrete 40cm thick, the weapon will
produce a 5m-diameter crater 2m
deep, and will break up a surface
area exceeding 250m2. According to
Matra, it takes more than a day to
repair the damaged area and to resume operations.
The Brandt BAP] 00 is a much
smaller weapon, but one which works
on the same principal. French Air
Force Jaguars carry 18 bombs on a
special-purpose underfuselage rack. A
single parachute is used to slow the
bomb and to achieve the correct impact angle.
The rocket motor burns for 0-3sec,
producing a terminal velocity of
230m/sec. BAP100 will penetrate 30cm
of concrete, and its 3-5kg warhead
will break up 50m2 of runway surface.
Detonation can be delayed by up to
1015