Military exercise 'Highway 84'

Overview

It was a 1984 NATO drill to test how well W. German motorways could be used as auxiliary airbases. It involved an A-10 Thunderbolt II, C-130 Hercules, F-15 and F-16 aircraft landing on an evacuated part of autobahn A29, including the publicised one near city of Ahlhorn. A total of 11 sections of autobahn were designated for this use in the 1980s.

Also see

1. Exercise Reforger
2. Highway strip (military aviation)
3. Noteworthy Air bases

Sources

1. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/1984-testing-the-autobahn-airfield.html?edg-c=1
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip
3. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/1984-testing-the-autobahn-airfield.html
4. https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Volume-28_Issue-5/F-Davis.pdf
5. https://www.outono.net/elentir/2023/03/22/the-most-curious-of-the-uses-of-german-highways-as-military-airstrips/
6. https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/raf-dispersing-and-operating-jets-from-motorways/
7. https://theaviationist.com/2019/09/08/cold-war-footage-shows-german-f-104-starfighter-landing-on-highway-strip-and-ending-nose-down-on-grass/
8. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/1984-testing-the-autobahn-airfield.html?edg-c=1