US A-10 aircraft landing on a highway in Estonia during exercise
A US A-10 aircraft landing on a highway in Estonia. The US military has conducted these types of landing abroad, but this is the first time a modern aircraft has done so on US soil.
NATO
  • A-10 attack aircraft practiced operating from a highway in Michigan on Thursday.
  • The training is believed to be the first time modern aircraft have operated from highways on US soil.
  • US A-10 pilots have repeatedly carried out this type of training in Europe.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

A-10 attack aircraft practiced landing and taking off from a US highway in an apparent first for modern military aircraft.

Authorities closed off Michigan State Highway M-32 on Thursday for a training exercise in which the Michigan National Guard's 127th Wing, the Air Force's 355th Wing, and Air Force Special Operations Command practiced operating four A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft and two C-146A Wolfhound special operations transport planes from the roadway.

The training was part of the larger Exercise Northern Strike at the National All Domain Warfighting Center.

"This is believed to be the first time in history that modern Air Force aircraft have intentionally landed on a civilian roadway on US soil," Air Force Col. James Rossi, commander of the NADWC's Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, said in a recent statement.

"Our efforts are focused on our ability to train the warfighter in any environment across the continuum so our nation can compete, deter, and win today and tomorrow," he said.

The Michigan Department of Transportation released multiple videos of the training.

The Michigan State Police jokingly tweeted Thursday that "no speeding citations were issued during the exercise."

"This year's Northern Strike exercise includes testing the rapid insertion of an Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW) into a bare-base environment," Brig. Gen. Bryan Teff, the Michigan Air National Guard adjutant general for air, said recently.

"They will establish logistics and communications in order to receive follow-on forces, generate mission employment including the austere landing on M-32, and project combat power across all domains," he added.

While the training made history in the US, this type of training is not uncommon. In 2018, for example, the Michigan National Guard pilots practiced landing A-10s on highways in Estonia.

US A-10 aircraft landing on a highway in Estonia during exercise.
A US A-10 aircraft landing on a highway abroad during a past exercise.
NATO

Other fighter wings have done the same in the Baltics.

During the Cold War, fixed-wing aircraft occasionally trained to operate from highways in Europe as opposed to established airstrips, which would likely be targeted during a great power conflict.

The Michigan National Guard explained in a recent statement that "dynamic exercises like the highway landing during Northern Strike demonstrates the Air Force's ability to deploy rapidly from anywhere, at any time, which is a critical edge the Air Force maintains over its adversaries."

The US Air Force has also practiced landings on austere runways. For instance, in 2019, A-10s from the 190th Fighter Squadron practiced landing on a rough landing strip in the California desert. This type of training has been carried out a number of times over the years.

Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog austere landing
An A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 190th Fighter Squadron of the Idaho Air National Guard makes an austere landing and takeoff on the Freedom Landing Strip at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin in California, June 6-7, 2019.
US Army National Guard/Sgt. Mason Cutrer

Unlike some of the other aircraft in the US arsenal, the A-10, an aircraft built around a powerful 30 mm cannon for close air support missions, is built for austere landings on non-standard runways.

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