Mig Alert Pads

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Such paved branching areas are telltale signs of military airfields. The "twigs" are meant to serve as forward-parking for aircraft; they are dispersed rather than packed closely together in order to reduce secondary damage (to initially-uninvolved aircraft) in the event of a weapons mishap or of a hit from aerial bombing. The spaces' angles and also "trunk" position at the end of a runway allows for the rapid takeoff at short notice required of fighter jets.

This is the fighter/interceptor pattern; alert pads meant for bombers have much larger spaces.

These branches terminate with earth-covered HAS (hardened aircraft shelters) bunkers.
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Coordinates:   20°46'5"N   76°19'31"W
This article was last modified 8 years ago