Air Force A-10 Warthogs are back in the Baltics, practicing for rough landings close to the Russian border
US Air National Guard/Staff Sgt. Bobbie Reynolds
US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolts are back in the Baltics this month, practicing for rough landings on improvised runways as a part of Saber Strike 18, the annual exercise where NATO and partner forces work to improve their ability to operate across Europe and with NATO's forward-deployed battle groups.
In early June, A-10s from the Michigan Air National Guard's 107th Fighter Squadron, based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, practiced landing and taking off from a rural highway in Latvia and an abandoned runway in Estonia.
During the Cold War, highways were considered an option for fixed-wing aircraft, as standard airstrips were likely to be targeted first in the event of conflict. But the A-10s only recently resumed the exercise.
During the 2016 iteration of Saber Strike, Warthogs from the Michigan National Guard landed on a strip of highway in Estonia — the first such exercise since 1984. In August 2017, A-10s from the Maryland National Guard practiced landing and taking off from a stretch of highway in northern Estonia.
"The requirement that we've been tasked with to be able to force project into battle spaces where the assumption is that the enemy is going to immediately try to destroy or limit capabilities on known airfields," said Air Force Maj. David Dennis, the detachment director of operations for the 107th Fighter Squadron.
"So the A-10 has been tasked with being able to forward deploy into areas a little bit more austere," he added, "whether they're old airfields, riverbeds, old highways, whatever the case may be, so we continue to provide close air support to the guys on the ground."
The 107th Fighter Squadron is currently deployed to Latvia. Working with members of the 321st Special Tactics Squadron's combat controllers, the 107th's A-10s carried out landings and takeoffs from an abandoned runway in Haapsalu, Estonia, on June 7.
US Air National Guard/Staff Sgt. Bobbie Reynolds
The exercise is part of Saber Strike 18, the latest version of a US Army Europe-led training exercise involving NATO countries and partner forces. This year's iteration focuses on improving land- and air-operational capabilities, with the additional goal of training with NATO's enhanced forward presence battle groups.
US Air Force/Master Sgt. David Kujawa
NATO's enhanced forward presence battle groups have been deployed to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland over the past two years and are made up of units from various NATO member countries. They are still on station in those four countries and now number over 4,500 personnel in total.
"We're landing on Estonian soil, so we have Estonian defense forces here, providing security. We have local fire departments on standby, in case there is some sort of incident," Dennis said. "So it involves a host of people."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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SEE ALSO: NATO has put forces in Eastern Europe to counter Russia — here's where its battle groups are located