Increasingly ‘Runway Agnostic’
A U.S. Air Force MC-130J Commando II, assigned to the 492nd Special Operations Wing, lands on Highway 63 during Emerald Warrior 24 FTX II in Bono, Arkansas, on August 4, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ty Pilgrim) 240804-F-QE874-1128
In 2022, the USAF conducted a series of highway landings in Michigan with a host of spooky little special ops wing aircraft (U-28A, C-145, C-146, and MC-12W) that are used to flying into tiny strips and strip-like areas in places they have never officially been. The same exercise also saw the first integrated combat turn of an A-10-– refueled and rearmed with the engines still running, pitstop style– on a U.S. highway. The ANG A-10 unit that pulled it off had been practicing highway ops for a minute.
Well, the Air Force just upstaged that this week in Emerald Warrior FTX II.
Using local law enforcement to close off an unusually straight five-lane section of U.S. 63 and a portion of 230 outside of Bono, Arkansas (pop. 2,121) commandos of the 1st Special Operations Wing established and secured a 5,000-foot landing zone on the 3-mile-long strip of closed-down highway.
Soon after a twin-engine C-146, followed by a big hulking MC-130J Commando, touched down just after dawn then, after setting up a forward refueling point, an AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship came in and did a turnaround– a historic first.
A U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider Gunship, assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing, prepares to land on Highway 63 during Emerald Warrior 24 FTX II in Bono, Arkansas, on August 4, 2024. The objective of the operation was to train aircrews on runway-agnostic operations to enable Air Commandos to effectively work in contested spaces where traditional airfields may be unavailable or under threat. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Saisha Cornett)
To show that not just the cool kids can do this, the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 189th Airlift Wing stepped in to execute takeoffs and landings at the highway site with a more, um, vintage C-130H.