The all-in-one weather station from Intellisense Systems was part of a unique training exercise that called for pilots to land on a public highway.
On August 5th, 2021, State Highway 32 in Alpena, Michigan was closed to traffic, but not because of construction, resurfacing, or an accident. It was closed to conduct a very important military exercise.
Four A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from the United States Air Force’s 354th Fighter Squadron and the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Wing made planned landings on the highway as part of a large-scale training exercise called Northern Strike 21. This is the first time in history that the Air Force has purposely landed modern aircraft on a civilian roadway, and they used the innovative Micro Weather Station (MWS®) to collect key weather data to safely complete each landing.
The day’s training event, dubbed Thunder Landing Zone (LZ), demonstrates the agile combat employment capabilities and Dynamic Wing concept of the A-10 Thunderbolt, which improve its Airmen’s ability to operate from austere locations with limited infrastructure and personnel. The A-10’s ability to land on a variety of surfaces, like highways and improvised landing strips, enables the Air Force to maintain air superiority in remote or austere locations.
The MWS was designed for scenarios replicated in this training exercise. In 2011, United States military required near-surface level weather observations in remote locations like the deserts of Afghanistan to better achieve its missions. Their previous weather-sensing tools were too heavy, unwieldy, conspicuous, and required too much time to set up quickly in denied terrain. The engineers at Intellisense devised an all-in-one environmental-sensing solution that combined weather observations, built-in data processing, communications, and a solar power system that took only 60 seconds to install. The MWS has since been commercialized to serve in military and commercial applications.
The United States Air Force also released a video detailing this historic exercise and how it is preparing pilots for every situation.
“Thunder LZ gave the pilots the opportunity to land in an austere environment that they’re not used to,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Brian Wyrzykowski, the mission commander and instructor-pilot at the 127th Wing. “But it’s also a first in the nation, as this is the first time that modern combat aircraft have landed on U.S. soil, on a highway. 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. We are making sure we are ready for the high-end fight against a near-peer adversary.”
“This is a small step toward increasing our confidence in operating from austere locations,” added Lt. Col. Gary Glojek, 354th FS commander. “We are increasing the number of areas we can operate from to generate and deliver attack airpower by operating from dirt and pavement runways. Accelerating change is all about seizing every opportunity to move forward to increase your readiness.”