A C-146 A Wolfhound Has Carried Out The First-Ever Landing of A U.S. Military Aircraft On a Latvian Highway

A C-146 A has actually arrived at a Latvian two-lane A9 highway.

In the night in between May 10 and 11, 2022, a U.S. Special Operations airplane performed highway operations in western Latvia, marking the first-ever landing of a U.S. military airplane on a Latvian highway. As part of the yearly Trojan Footprint 22 international workout, a U.S. Special Operations Command C-146 A Wolfhound, serial #12-3085, arrived at the narrow two-lane, A9 highway near Biksti, in western Latvia.

According to the Latvian Public Broadcasting service, the place to be utilized as an improvised airstrip, covering 900 meters, needed around 2,000 kilometers of roadway to be examined. Given that the wingspan of the C-146 Wolfhound is 21 meters, whereas the width of the roadway is 8.5 meters, to assist in the landing, a number of roadway indications were eliminated so the wings would not strike them, while a bus stop was utilized to turn the airplane around.

Latvian and @US_SOCEUR Forces carried out the first-ever landing of a U.S. military airplane on a Latvian two-lane A9 highway, part of the #TrojanFootprint 22 global workout, more showing interoperability with our #NATO Allies. #StrongerTogether #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/1KL09 vYAxN

— U.S. Embassy Riga( @USEmbassyRiga )May 12,2022

The C-146 A Wolfhound is the military variation of the Dornier 328 turboprop commuter airliner, customized to allow freight and workers transportation objectives and continually released because2011 The airplane can bring an optimum of 27 guests, 6,000 pounds of freight, or as much as 4 litter clients. Its primary objective is quick responsive air movement, and its users are mainly unique operations forces, although the possession can move other members around from the Department of Defense, other federal government companies in addition to host nationals. “The C-146 A Wolfhound’s main objective is to offer U.S. Special Operations Command versatile and responsive functional motion of little groups and freight in assistance of Theater Special Operations Commands. Airlift objectives are carried out by Air Force Special Operations Command aircrews to ready and semi-prepared airfields around the globe” states the U.S. Air Force site.

The adjustments from a standard Dornier 328 consist of ARC-231, PRC-117, and Iridium interactions suite, troop/cargo-capable cabin, casualty evacuation ability and NVG compatibility.

Overall, 4 landings and 4 remove were performed by the U.S. military airplane that was associated with a simulated extraction of an injured armed force from a battle zone utilizing the improvised runway.

During the Cold War highway strips were utilized to eliminate the runway dependence in case of nuclear war; nowadays they are utilized to run all over from unforeseeable places and task fight airpower more detailed to the action rapidly. And this is the reason that this sort of training has actually resumed.

The Michigan ANG’s 127 th Wing’s A-10 s were the firsts to arrive at a highway in Estonia throughout Saber Strike 16, 32 years after the last highway workout. In August 2021, 4 A-10 Thunderbolt IIs of the Michigan ANG’s 127 th Wing and 2 AFSOC C-146 A Wolfhounds landed on the Michigan State Highway M-32 near Alpena, in what marked the very first time in history the Air Force landed contemporary airplane on a civilian road in the United States, as part of the Agile Combat Employment principle throughout workout Northern Strike 21.

United States Special Operation Command C146 A Wolfhound BAGGER3 left Riga #Latvia. pic.twitter.com/vATTBmAaUG

— Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) May 11, 2022

Based on the flight tracking sites, after the highway operations in Latvia, the C-146 A flew to Krakow, in Poland, and after that to Debrecen, Hungary.

Set to conclude on May 13, Trojan Footprint 22 saw U.S. Special Operations Forces proactively work and train together with NATO allies and European partners throughout Southeastern Europe, the Baltics and the Black Sea Region “to show their cumulative military preparedness to release and react to any crisis that might develop.” According to the U.S. Army, this year’s version of the drills consisted of more than 3,300 individuals from 30 countries, doubling in size from the previous year and making it the biggest SOCEUR workout to date. Land, air and sea operations covered throughout Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.