Funny thing about tunnels!

[John Hill]

Amazon is offering a DVD titled 'The History Channel, Saddam's Secret Tunnels'

Product Description

In April 2003, U.S. Army engineers began to explore the secret tunnels beneath Baghdad. This underground labyrinth stretches for miles and is believed to contain everything from vast stores of biochemical and nuclear weapons, torture chambers, prisons, and escape routes, to luxurious bunker complexes for Saddam and his regime. Designed in part by American companies, this underground city began as a subway and became a subterranean city.

I have not watched this DVD but if it shows anything much of Saddam's secret tunnels it will be very interesting as it appears almost impossible to find images of those secrect tunnels online. Perhaps they are really secret secret tunnels.

Maybe the underground command centres in Gaza will prove to be just as secret.

[tango15]

Tunnels? You call those tunnels? Pffft!
These are tunnels, comrade!

https://www.rbth.com/arts/travel/2015/0 ... orld_41529

To say nothing of the underground city, north of Moscow on Leningrad Avenue, underneath the old Centralni Airport. I believe it has now been permanently filled in with spoil from all the building work in Moscow and sealed off. I asked why this had been done and was told it was because it had become public knowledge.

However, there are still lots of other well-hidden areas connected to the Metro system, which would make 'Secrets of the London Underground'** look like child's play.

** A UK TV programme that goes behind the scenes, showing unused stations and tracks that the general public is not aware of.

[unifoxos]

SIXTY or so miles of tunnels under the town of Epernay, 17 miles of those just for Moet alone.

[John Hill]

What about all the tunnels including underground palaces and railways reserved for the Kim family under North Korea? They have been busy digging since 1952 and even have underground airfields!

[Rossian]

Now that would make for an interesting approach.

The Ancient Mariner

[unifoxos]

"underground airfields"

What size does a tunnel have to be for a bomber runway? Does it exit out of the side of a hill? Is there an entrance the other side for landing?

[k3k3]

It would make for exciting go arounds.

[Rossian]

Norway had one or two places where the a/c (albeit small like a F-104/F-16) would emerge from buried-in-the-hill parkings, sort of natural HASs.

The Ancient Mariner

[Boac]

Did they have underground airfields during the American Civil War? I'm sure the Chump would know.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

It's just underground storage for the aircraft, at the edge of a conventional airfield.
They build military airfields next to a small hill or two - the geomorphology of much of NK is quite suitable for this.
They build them on the alluvial plain, between a river and the foothills of the valley, with one or two of those foothills being tunnelled out for the storage.
Here is an example
https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2 ... ?entry=ttu
The link is centred on one of the two underground hanger entrances.
This is an operational base, Mig 29s and Su-25s, and you will note there are no aircraft or significant conventional hangarage visible.
The hill just to the NW contains the ops and non-aircraft engineering and admin, and note the SAM site on top.

Here's another one, with all the aircraft outside.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2 ... &entry=ttu

[G-CPTN]

Here's another one, with all the aircraft outside.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/39%C2 ... &entry=ttu

Ye gads and little fishes!
Farsends of the things.

[Boac]

What is also 'funny' is that it appears that some of the underground structures under the hospital, allegedly used by Hamas, were in fact constructed by the Israelis....shouldn't make then too difficult to 'find'.