U.S. air force conducted air exercises with its allies in Europe, upgrade of the air base, testing the airfields for rapid deployment. They invest in the aviation component of the European initiative for the containment of more and more money, writes the Russian service Bi-bi-si.

During NATO exercises. Italy, 19 October 2015. Photo: Reuters

On several Czech air bases — Names, Caslav and Pardubice — began military exercises “Commensurate with impact 2018” (Ample Strike 2018).

They involve military personnel from 19 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

In the maneuvers involved 36 aircraft, including the American tanker KC-135 and strategic bombers B-1 and B-52, the German fighters Eurofighter Typhoon and Tornado, and Czech JAS-39 Gripen .

The maneuvers will be worked out the interaction of the terrestrial airfield teams, the system of refueling in the air. In addition, according to the edition Prague Daily Monitor, citing the press service of the Ministry of defense of the Czech Republic, will be worked out by the crews of aircraft and aerial gunners — air force officers that are in combat land units and adjusting air strikes from the ground.

The exercise will train 850 to about 200 Czech and foreign military. This is just not a very big episode for an ambitious program of system strengthening the air force deter Russia in Eastern Europe.

NATO in 2018 holds about two dozen different exercises of the air force in Europe, many of them in Eastern Europe. In recent months, NATO countries, particularly the United States, turned on the air component presence in Eastern Europe the most attention.

Big repairs

And it often is not about the development of combat missions and about the logistics, maintenance, supply and other operations not directly connected with military operations. Before starting the exercises in Pardubice American F-16 fighter jets and Czech ground personnel of the air base practiced an emergency landing of a fighter with use of arresting gear BAK-12.

This system, similar to that used on aircraft carriers, is installed at military airfields, in order to extinguish the inertia of the aircraft, which for technical reasons is unable to stop himself.

As said in the July interview with the online edition of Defense News, the commander of the U.S. air force in Europe TOD Walters, 2017, the U.S. air force has tripled the funding in the framework of the European initiative deterrence program for the strengthening of the US and its allies in Europe to counter the threat of attack from Russia.

In the 2017 financial year, they spent $ 388 million in 2018 1.13 billion dollars.

Walters told me that the money is spent, in particular, to update the military aviation infrastructure. For example, Americans spend $ 13.8 million for the repair of the taxiway at a Norwegian airbase Rygge, 119 million dollars for the construction of a logistics center at Ramstein in Germany.

$ 40 million U.S. air force intend to spend on equipping the military base of the 71st air base of the Romanian kampia-Tursi, says Defense News, citing Walters. After completion of the base will be able to make more American planes.

Now there temporarily hosted the F-15 and a-10 attack aircraft of the 131st expeditionary squadron. On the basis of the will of the runway, increased the number of sites, built new hangars, barracks and offices, fuel depots and ammunition.

Base out of nowhere

The United States plans to rely not only on the existing airfield network. In the summer of 2018 from 16 July to 13 August at the airbase Krzesiny in Poland, the U.S. air force conducted an exercise on the operational deployment of the airfield.

This is the first test in Europe of a complex DABS (deployable air base system — deployable system air-based). It consists of several containers with temporary demountable buildings, airport equipment, portable generators, vehicles and so on, up to the medical modules.

This is a fairly large amount of cargo — more than a hundred containers. The us military used for their delivery more than 80 trucks, two transport aircraft C-130 and a train.

One of the hangars designed to DABS. Photo: US AIR FORCE/DONNA LINDNER

The USAF has not purchased any kit mobile base. However, in the 2018 fiscal year they have allocated funds, and in the next few years, a number of sets will be purchased and deployed in Europe.

“All we want is to buy enough sets so that, wherever there was a threat in Europe, 360 degrees, we could easily deploy database and start to fly,” — said the head of the Department of logistics, maintenance and protection of the U.S. air force in Europe and Africa Roy Augustine.

Transport problems

The US and its NATO allies in recent years expanding its military presence in Eastern Europe. This is dictated by their fears of a possible military confrontation with Russia.

In Eastern Europe deployed four battalion groups — one in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Before them the task — in case of war to delay the Russian offensive until the main NATO forces.

During the various exercises that the countries of the Alliance and its partners are in Europe, it became clear that transport infrastructure in the border countries is not quite ready for war.

The Washington Post published in June, which said that reinforcements can be delayed due to bureaucratic and legal inconsistencies of different countries, different technical standards in the transport, but most importantly, undeveloped transport infrastructure.

One of the main tasks of the units, which are now in Europe on a rotational basis in the framework of the “Expanded forward presence” of NATO, also is to get to work logistical mechanisms of the military machine of NATO in Europe — each rotation is a doctrine for deployment and redeployment of troops.