Northern Michigan has seen an influx of travelers, but the latest visitors didn’t arrive by car. Instead, they touched down in military aircraft.
Six planes landed on M-32 outside Alpena and the Michigan National Guard says it was a historic event as they “successfully landed and generated modern military aircraft from a United States highway for the first time.”
The training exercise, known as Thunder Landing Zone, saw two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, two A-10s from the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and two C-146 Wolfhounds from the Air Force Special Operations Command land on a closed section of the highway. The exercise was designed to give pilots experience with highway landings and takeoffs as well as give ground crews practice with arming and refueling aircraft in remote locations as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept.
Also Read: US Air Force Says Now Is The Time To Make The Jetsons’ Car Real
Held as part of the larger Northern Strike exercise, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Brian Wyrzykowski said “Thunder LZ gave the pilots the opportunity to land in an austere environment that they’re not used to.” He added, “Our adversaries have advanced weapons systems and advanced technology that they can use against us, so we need to be able to operate efficiently in austere situations and gain proficiency in those operations.”
The Northern Strike exercise kicked off on July 31st and involves approximately 5,100 participants from various states and countries. It’s designed to give participating units a “chance to conduct robust and relevant scenario-based, full-spectrum readiness training and complete mission essential tasks.”
H/T to MLive
![](https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/themes/carscoops/assets/images/icons/arrow.png"){kind=icon}