Special Ops C-130s Using Beaches As Runways Eyed For Pacific Fight
MC-130s operating from beaches could provide critical logistics in the Pacific where runways are few in number and under threat.
BY
JOSEPH TREVITHICK
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PUBLISHED SEP 19, 2023 10:12 AM EDT
Air Force Special Operations Command is looking at expanding its ability to land on beaches around the world as part of a shift toward "runway agnostic" operations.
JOSEPH TREVITHICK
Air Force Special Operations Command wants to expand its ability to use beaches across the Pacific as impromptu airfields capable of supporting MC-130J Commando II special operations tanker/transports and other aircraft in future conflicts. This is part of a broader push to become more "runway agnostic" amid concerns about well-established bases becoming ever more vulnerable, especially in the opening phases of a potential high-end fight against a near-peer adversary like China.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, head of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), highlighted the importance of beach airstrips in future planning at a media roundtable that The War Zone and other outlets attended on the sidelines of Air & Space Force's main annual conference the last week. Bauernfeind also shared additional details about other ways AFSOC is looking to reduce reliance on traditional runways, including continued interest in an amphibious C-130 Hercules variant and future high-speed vertical takeoff and landing-capable designs.
"We're ... looking at the ability for beach landings," Bauernfeind said. "There's a lot of 3,000-foot [long] straight beaches that we can bring MC-130s and CV-22s into to deliver the effects we need."
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/special-ops-c-130s-using-beaches-as-runways-eyed-for-pacific-fight
