It is very difficult to completely remove the airfield from a standing position.

Military expert Oleg Zhdanov explained why combat aircraft continue to take off from Russian airfields even after the explosions at these facilities. He noted that the main part of any airfield is the runway, which is not so easy to damage, let alone destroy.

Answering questions from subscribers on his YouTube channel, Zhdanov emphasized that the airfield is a rather complex engineering and technical structure that has a huge margin of safety.

“Imagine if a strategic bomber lands – it can have a landing weight of several hundred tons. And if it lands, let’s say, with missiles – did it not launch and lands? Or take-off weight when it is fueled and with missiles. Runway – this is a very strong structure. And in the airfield itself, it is the most important element,” the expert added.

According to Zhdanov, if the runway is intact, the airfield can function even without navigation aids. At the same time, onboard systems allow pilots to take off and land without an additional navigation system.

“In order to, say, destroy a runway, you have to use something like concrete-piercing munitions or bunker bombs, which have a high penetrating ability through concrete and detonate, to turn it inside out. So you can wipe everything out. from the face of the earth, but if the runway remains intact, all debris is raked from it, it is thoroughly washed so that there are no residues of fuel and lubricants on it, and it can continue to be operated, up to the point where the battery lights, which illuminate this strip to ensure flights,” he continued.

Zhdanov once again emphasized that it is very, very difficult to destroy the airfield. As an example, the expert cited the bombing of an airfield in Syria a few years ago.

“Under Donald Trump – in my opinion, in the 17th or 18th year – there was a massive – there were about a hundred missiles – a Tomahawk attack on an airfield in Syria, in Damascus. And what? Nothing. Yes, the military objects were damaged at this airfield, some were destroyed, but after some time the airport resumed its work, the runway was not damaged, although anti-bunker bombs (bombs – ed.) were used there to destroy aircraft located in hangars, in concrete caponirs. There are special caponirs that have a reinforced concrete structure, and are also filled with earth. So it is very difficult to disable the airfield,” he summarized.

“Cotton” at Russian airfields: consequences

During the last few weeks, there was “cotton” on the territory of military airfields of the Russian Federation. Explosions rang out, in particular, in Engels, Saratov Region. According to journalist Volodymyr Zolkin, 5 Tu-95 bombers were damaged as a result of the latest explosions at Engels airfield.

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that the Russian command hides its bombers because it understands that Ukraine can destroy them. According to him, Russia does not have many suitable aircraft that can bombard the territory of Ukraine from the air.

British intelligence believes that periodic explosions at airfields on the territory of the Russian Federation indicate problems with air defense systems.