@gambit
you are right runway denial is not an easy Operation to carry out....BUT i guess you are discounting cruise missile systems! with smart bombs in an Ariel bombing the pilot is concerned with AAA guns & SAMs he is unable to bomb the runway with as much precision!
but in a cruise missile attack 3 waves is all a runway would need i guess....because the first salvo will try to take out the HARDENED aircraft shelters second one would try to get rid of the control towers as well as depots third would go for plain all out cratering the runways & making them inoperable.
but then again i could be wrong please correct me if i am wrong! waiting to here your reply gambit....if what i say can be or cannot be achieved!
What make runway denial a unique training regiment, oddly enough, is that you are basically attacking the ground...
Explosive force, like pressurized water and electric current, always seeks the path of least resistance and this is why it is far easier to damage and destroy target that are above ground to the point where they could no longer perform their functions, be it a simple house or a complex piece of machinery like a truck or a radar station.
That is the cross section of a typical runway designed and built to withstand an airliner class weight. It is not enough to simply create a few cracks on the overlay. Runway repair crews with the equivalent of concrete patch will have the damages repaired to support fighter-bombers in a couple of hours.
Here is one of those patch...
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Here are some examples of those specialists...
820th RED HORSE
Expeditionary Engineering Division (CEXX)
The Expeditionary Engineering Division (CEXX) is responsiblie for providing Prime BEEF (Base Engineer Emergency Force) and RED HORSE (Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer) total force management. This division validates AF Civil Engineer (CE) military wartime requirements, manages CE Unit Type Code(s) (UTC) equipment requirements. In addition, CEXX administers AF Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP); conducts 24-hour readiness response operations and provides contingency training guidance and products; develops Silver Flag Exercise Training Curriculum and plans and hosts Readiness Challenge. RD&A (Research, Development, and Acquisitions) consultation and user technical representation, as well as supporting Readiness Modernization activities and CE capabilities enhancement efforts.
Emergency repair of war damage (includes rapid runway repair (RRR), facility repair, and utility repair).
Yes...The USAF do have colorful names -- Prime RIBS and Prime BEEF -- for these units. I get hungry already. The importance of runway war readiness cannot be underestimated given the importance of air power itself. So it is better off to assume that one's opponent will have something the equivalent of the American's Prime BEEF and Prime RIBS units. So in order to render a runway as difficult for specialized repair crews to perform their duties as possible, the foundation of the runway itself must be compromised and that mean the munition should be at a vertical descent with as much kinetic energy as possible to penetrate the asphalt overlay and finally detonate.
BLU-107 Durandal - Dumb Bombs
The Durandal anti-runway bomb was developed by the French company MATRA, designed solely for the purpose of destroying runways. Once the parachute-retarded low-level drop bomb attains a nose-down attitude, it fires a rocket booster that penetrates the runway surface, and a delayed explosion buckles a portion of the runway. It can penetrate up to 40 centimeters of concrete, creating a 200 square meter crater causing damage more difficult to repair than the crater of a general-purpose bomb.
Further proof that runway denial is a very specialized mission requiring unique training if there is a weapon specifically designed for the task. The weapon is meant to be deployed at low altitude, leaving the attacker vulnerable to air base defense, if there are any, of course. The weapon's descent attitude is changed by a parachute to orient it best for penetration and finally a rocket is employed to propel the weapon deeper into the runway's foundation. Unless a cruise missile is able to either perform the exact same task or deliver munitions to do what the Durandal does, a cruise missile salvo is useless as a runway denial attack. At best, only surface cracks will appear on the runway.
http://www.fauntrackway.co.uk/assets/technicaldata/RRR%20Technical Data.pdf
Following an enemy attack on an Airfield, the first task is to locate all the damage and plot the information onto an Airfield plan. A minimum operating strip (MOS) possibly 1500m x 15m wide (but dependant on the type of aircraft, payload and ambient conditions) is selected that requires the least amount of initial repair work to restart flying operations.
Note the highlighted. That is not much for a fighter-bomber to use. So if after a runway denial attack, the enemy performed a damage assessment and found he could still launch and recover his aircrafts despite the damages, the mission is a failure. Notice that in section 4 of that source, a 'medium' size crater is estimated to be repaired in about 120 min. Look at the illustration labeled' Airstrike MOS selection'. All those brown spots are bomb craters. See how little runway (yellow strip) is required for retaliatory flight operations.
Runway denial is very risky an operation that unless the attacker is equipped with specialized weapons, that operation may result in loss of valuable air resources with no guarantees of success.
Carry on...