JAKARTA - The Ministry of Defense (Moeldoko) has prepared a roadmap so that a number of toll roads and national roads in various regions of Indonesia can be designed to meet technical specifications as emergency runways for aircraft.
"This concept is important to maintain defense readiness in the archipelago," said Deputy Minister of Defense, Major General TNI (Ret.) Donny Ermawan Taufanto in a written statement received in Lampung, Wednesday, quoted by Antara.
According to him, with many alternative landing points, fighter aircraft operations will continue even though the main base is disrupted.
"We want to have many alternative bases on every big island. If one base is attacked, there are still other options. Therefore, we will design some toll road sections in the future so that they can function as runways," he said.
Donny added that future infrastructure development will be coordinated with defense needs.
The Ministry of Defense will continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Works and the toll road management to ensure that the technical specifications of the emergency runway can be met.
"In the future, in the construction of toll roads, we will adjust the specifications to meet the requirements as runways. This is part of the national defense roadmap," said Donny.
He also appreciated the ability of the Air Force pilots who were able to land fighter planes on toll roads with limited width because landing on toll roads has a higher risk than at air bases.
"The width of the toll road is only around 24 meters, much narrower than the airport runway which can reach 45 to 60 meters. This is quite risky, but the TNI AU pilots have been trained for narrow conditions and the results are safe," said Donny.
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