A highway strip, road runway or road base is a section of a highway, motorway or other form of public road that is specially built to act as a runway for (mostly) military aircraft and to serve as an auxiliary military air base. These runways allow military aircraft to continue operating even if their regular air bases, some of the most vulnerable targets in any war, are degraded or destroyed.
A Lockheed C-130 Hercules lands on the German Bundesautobahn 29 (A29 Autobahn) near Ahlhorn during military exercise 'Highway 84'
Highway strip on the German Bundesautobahn 29 (A29 Autobahn) near Ahlhorn
A sign on the Eyre Highway in Australia indicating that an RFDS emergency airstrip is ahead. There are four such strips on the highway.
Alavus road runway in Finland.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a human-made surface or a natural surface. Runways, taxiways and ramps, are sometimes referred to as "tarmac", though very few runways are built using tarmac. Takeoff and landing areas defined on the surface of water for seaplanes are generally referred to as waterways. Runway lengths are now commonly given in meters worldwide, except in North America where feet are commonly used.
Runway 13R at Palm Springs International Airport
Runway 34 at Nagoya Airfield
An MD-11 at one end of a runway
Triangular runway pattern at Armitage Field, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake