A road becomes a runway for the Swedish Air Force’s Gripen fighter jets.
Synopsis
Swedish Air Force Gripen fighters practised the delicate art of landing on civilian highways during an exercise near Gothenburg, Sweden on 21 May 2024. Swedish fighter pilots learn how to land on civilian roads to give them extra flexibility in the event of a crisis.
If airbases, airports or auxiliary landing strips are damaged or otherwise unavailable, the JAS 39 Gripen fighters can land on roads that have been deliberately engineered to accommodate landings by fighter jets. Once on the ground, the Gripens make use of a mobile forward arming and refuelling point (FARP), gassing up in a matter of minutes before taking off again.
The Gripen is Sweden’s premier multirole fighter, with a reinforced landing gear that props the plane high enough above the asphalt to prevent debris from getting sucked down the jet intake.
Footage includes shots of Gripens landing on a road in rural Sweden, and interviews with Swedish officers.
(01:53) SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - WIDE SHOT – GRIPEN JET MOVING PAST GROUND CREW
(02:00) WIDE SHOT - SWEDISH AIR FORCE GROUND CREW VEHICLES PARKING
(02:09) WIDE SHOT - SWEDISH AIR FORCE GROUND CREW SORTING EQUIPMENT
(02:13) MEDIUM SHOT – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - GRIPEN JET TURNING
(02:17) MEDIUM SHOT – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - SWEDISH AIR FORCE GROUND CREW
(02:20) MEDIUM SHOT – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - GRIPEN JET ENGINE
(02:25) MEDIUM SHOT – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - GRIPEN JET BEING ATTENDED TO BY GROUND CREW
(02:35) MEDIUM SHOT – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - SWEDISH AIR FORCE GROUND CREW LOADING MISSILES
(02:43) MEDIUM SHOT X2 – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO - GRIPEN JET MOVING BEHIND PILOT
(02:51) VARIETY OF SHOTS – SLOW MOTION – NO AUDIO – SWEDISH GRIPEN PILOT WALKING ON HIGHWAY
(03:30) CLOSE-UP – SWEDISH FLAG ON GRIPEN PILOT
(03:35) MEDIUM SHOT – BRIG. GEN. TOMMY PETERSSON OBSERVES GRIPEN JET ON HIGHWAY
(03:45) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH, Brig. Gen. Tommy Petersson, DEPUTY COMMANDER, SWEDISH AIR FORCE
‘Three months into our NATO membership, I'd say Sweden is stronger and safer. And the Alliance is also stronger with us as an Ally, especially here in northern Europe.’
‘This is a very long tradition. Today, we call it agile combat deployment or dispersed ops. For us, I call it normal operations. We started in the 60s to design the system. You must remember Sweden, non-Allied country, neighbour to the Soviet Union. We have always perceived the threat from the east, that we have to be able to leave our air force bases very rapidly. And this is a part of that. So, I say it's a part of our DNA.’
‘I think Sweden is punching above our weight, when it comes to many things. And we have a long tradition of domestic arms manufacturing in all arenas or domains but especially of course, when we talk Air Force here, it's a fighter tradition. We started to build our own fighters during World War II, and we have continued ever since then. Then of course, the Gripen fighter of today is a multinational cooperation. There are many, different subsystems from many different countries, but this design is Swedish. And some of the key elements of the fighter are Swedish.
Some of the design features that we can see here when they taxi behind me on the runway. Designed for 800m runway length and designed to be handled by conscripts in the field. ‘
(05:12) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Captain Patrik Lange, Pilot, Swedish Air Force
‘You're quite vulnerable around the main airbase if you get on the cruise missile attack or whatever you see in Ukraine, you know, the whole base can be destroyed. There is no way to again lift off with your aircraft or land and refuel and so on.
So, with this system, you have like multiple small road systems all over the country. And so we can just drop down at one that is active. So, it's good for survivability in wartime, I would say.’
Since it's a lot shorter and narrower, you have to be more careful where to point your nose, of course. And you don't have that much margin in case anything goes wrong, you know.’
‘Since this is not anything we do every day, we have painted kind of this runway on the main runway. So, we train there, every day, and so. But, now it’s for real of course, you have, another extra pounding of your heart, of course.’
But it feels good to be a part of NATO, and it feels like you're backed up with a lot of resources. And we can also back up NATO with our resources, our country and those kinds of airstrips.’
SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Colonel Adam Nelson, Wing Commander, Skaraborg Wing, Swedish Air Force
‘Well, the biggest advantage of using highway landing strips is that you could have more possibilities and you could move around to more take-off and landing surfaces.’
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