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Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, everything has changed. The Swiss army wants to be able to defend the country again as quickly as possible. And yet Air Force Chief Peter Merz, 56, surprised everyone when he spoke last spring about the military planning to take off and land fighter jets on highways “every now and then.”
Does the military want to close entire sections of the highway for training purposes? At the time, the Ministry of Defense (VBS) tried to keep the ball rolling and spoke of contingency planning so that highways could be used as decentralized deployment locations in defense matters. At the same time, however, it was assured that “no air force exercises will take place on highway sections in the near future.”
The A1 motorway will be closed near Payerne
However, research by Blick now shows that a closure of the A1 motorway between Bern and Lausanne is planned in the middle of this year, right next to the military airport in Payerne VD. The Federal Council will consider the deal in January. According to the Road Traffic Act, a complete closure requires a decision from the state government, which is currently being prepared within the administration.
The idea that fighter jets can take off and land on highways is not new. The national highway network was already planned accordingly in the late 1950s – in the middle of the Cold War. The threat scenarios at the time considered airport runways as a vulnerable point. If they were destroyed, the jets would otherwise have been unable to take off or land and would therefore have been rendered useless.
Federal Office fears “real traffic chaos”
Several sections of the highway were constructed to serve as emergency runways. They were built exactly straight over stretches of about two kilometers and had central railings that were easy to remove. Also there was no green in the middle. The slopes were at Münsingen BE, Oensingen SO, Alpnach OW, Lodrino TI, Sion VS and Flums SG.
In 1970 the first exercise took place on the A1 section Oensingen-Härkingen. The planes took off and landed between the two bridges from Oensingen to Kestenholz and from Oberbuchsiten to Niederbuchsiten. “The almost complete daytime closure of the A1 that was necessary for the exercise would probably lead to real traffic chaos today,” the Federal Roads Office (Astra) said on its website.
When the A1 Bern-Lausanne was constructed in the late 1990s, the section parallel to Payerne airport was also constructed as an emergency runway. The main hangar is still directly connected to the highway via a taxiway. The plans indicated that the route could have been converted within eight hours.
The concept was abandoned with Army Reform 95
But no exercise ever took place there. The last one was performed in Ticino in 1991. The concept of highway airstrips was abandoned as part of the army reform in 1995. Until now.
The military is currently searching throughout the country for locations that can be quickly converted into temporary military airfields. It has not been announced which cities are affected; they would only activate in the event of a defense. But Air Force Chief Merz has promised: “We will not put towers on the highway.”
The military must first relearn the procedures. To this end, the idea is to set up mobile airfield departments that can turn a highway into a runway, operate it and then monitor it. And don’t forget: someone has to get a highway sticker for the planes.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
