An Underground hangar is a type of hangar

Hangar

A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...

 for military aircraft

Military aircraft

A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...

, usually dug into the side of a mountain for protection. It is bigger and more protected than a Hardened Aircraft Shelter

Hardened Aircraft Shelter

Hardened Aircraft Shelters , or Protective Aircraft Shelter , are a reinforced structure to house and protect military aircraft from enemy attack...

 (HAS).

An underground hangar complex may include tunnels containing the normal elements of a military airbase - fuel storage, weapon storage, rooms for maintaining the aircraft systems, a communications centre, briefing rooms, kitchen, dining rooms, sleeping areas and generators for electrical power.

Countries that have used underground hangars include Albania, China, India, Italy, North Korea, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Vietnam and Yugoslavia.

India

The Indian Air Force

Indian Air Force

The Indian Air Force is the air arm of the Indian armed forces. Its primary responsibility is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during a conflict...

 operates underground hangars. Sukhoi Su-30 MKI have been stationed at Trishul Air-base situated in Bareilly

Bareilly

Bareilly is a prominent city in Bareilly district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Standing on the Ramganga river, it is the capital of the Bareilly division and the geographical region Rohilkhand...

, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It houses one of the largest underground hangers in Asia. Adampur

Adampur

Adampur is a city and a municipal council in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab.-Geography:Adampur Doaba is located at . It has an average elevation of 233 metres . The nearest hill station is Dharamshala which is the headquarters of the Dalai Lama...

, situated in Punjab, houses an air-base with underground hangars. It is the home base for MiG-29 and MiG-21 interceptor

Interceptor

-Vehicles:* Interceptor aircraft , a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft* Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car...

s.

Pakistan

Pakistan has an underground hangar facility for the Pakistan Air Force

Pakistan Air Force

The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...

 in Punjab.

Sweden

The Swedish Air Force

Swedish Air Force

The Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.-History:The Swedish Air Force was created on July 1, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalating international tension during the 1930s the Air Force was reorganized and expanded...

 has used underground hangars. The Saab 37 Viggen aircraft was designed with a folding tail fin

Vertical stabilizer

The vertical stabilizers, vertical stabilisers, or fins, of aircraft, missiles or bombs are typically found on the aft end of the fuselage or body, and are intended to reduce aerodynamic side slip. It is analogical to a skeg on boats and ships.On aircraft, vertical stabilizers generally point upwards...

 to fit into low hangars. One of the hangars is now the Aeroseum museum.

Switzerland

Six Flugzeugkaverne (aircraft caverns), each with space for 30 or more aircraft, were constructed for the Swiss Air Force

Swiss Air Force

The Swiss Air Force is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on July 31, 1914, as part of the Army and as of January 1966 an independent service.In peacetime, Dübendorf is the operational Air Force HQ...

. One has been used to operate F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

Yugoslavia

The largest underground hangar complex in former Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 was at Željava Airport near Bihać

Bihac

Bihać is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:...

, with enough space for 80 MiG-21s. Slatina Air Base

Slatina Air Base

Slatina Air Base , located at Pristina International Airport, contained the second largest military underground hangar complex in former Yugoslavia. The largest one was at Željava Airport near Bihać...

, located at Pristina International Airport

Priština International Airport

Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari is an international airport located southwest of Pristina, Kosovo. It is an international airport that handles over a million passengers per year, co-located with Slatina Air Base. It is under the authority of the Government of Kosovo and is the only...

, contained the second largest.

External links

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfSpNVipZTo&playnext_from=TL&videos=7Pfqm02atSw Armeeschulfilm über die Schweizer Flugzeugkaverne

• "Underground Hangers to Protect War Planes" Popular Mechanics, September 1937