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re: Highway Airstrips in Cuba

Please note that there is no separate heading for military-use airports in OurAirports, and that the inclusion of any aviation facility on this site does not imply permission to land there, given the thousands of private-use airstrips and heliports in the United States alone.

Moreover, many airports throughout the world are dual-use military-civilian, including my closest major airport (Austin Bergstrom International) which hosts a National Guard unit. So having a separate "military" category would make this very difficult as the same facility cannot be listed multiple times with the same ICAO code under different categories.

Airports on OuAirports are categorized by size and frequency of use, so "Small Airport" would be the most salient category for highway airstrips due to their infrequency of employment.

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Highway Airstrips in Cuba

All highway airstrips in Cuba are DAAFAR (Cuban Air and air defense forces) alternate airfields, and should be categorized as Military alternate airfields. These are established for wartime use, a practice adopted from the Soviet Union, and lesson of the "Bay Pigs" invasion attempt. They are stretches of roadways (usually national highways) that are long straightaways that can be used by military aircraft. The runway of the closed Cayo Coco airport was incorporated into a new national highway for just this reason. Landing at these alternate airfields is a regular part of DAAFAR pilot training. Civilian use of these roadway alternate airfields is strictly prohibited.

Jon R. Chasse

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