Hard runways in WWII (3 Viewers)

[kitplane01]

Did either the Allies of the Axis have many hard paved runways in operational combat use?

As a silly example (and please don't move this to what-if) did the Allies/Axis have the sort of runways we would now use to operate an F-16/B-52? Were they really landing DC-4s or Constellations on grass? And where ever they were landing DC-4s or Constellations, did they run combat ops out of those bases?

 

[EwenS]

Did either the Allies of the Axis have many hard paved runways in operational combat use?

As a silly example (and please don't move this to what-if) did the Allies/Axis have the sort of runways we would now use to operate an F-16/B-52? Were they really landing DC-4s or Constellations on grass? And where ever they were landing DC-4s or Constellations, did they run combat ops out of those bases?

RAF class A airfields

Class A airfield - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[kitplane01]

RAF class A airfields

Class A airfield - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

OK. Awesome and thanks. But how many Class A Airfields were there? Wiki implies at least 8 but maybe more.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Did either the Allies of the Axis have many hard paved runways in operational combat use?

As a silly example (and please don't move this to what-if) did the Allies/Axis have the sort of runways we would now use to operate an F-16/B-52? Were they really landing DC-4s or Constellations on grass? And where ever they were landing DC-4s or Constellations, did they run combat ops out of those bases?

Understand that F-16s can use 5,000 or so foot runways, and a fully-loaded B-52 probably needs more like 7-8,000 foot, so while both sides had many paved runways in WWII, that's not to say they could accommodate those jets, necessarily.

No doubt the UK and/or Germany had -- in 1945 -- the highest numbers of long concrete airstrips, with some able to handle jets. But the Japanese and Americans both had healthy hard-paved air bases, at Munda, Rabaul, and the Marianas, too. Andersen AFB in Guam handles B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s to this day (though it may have been extended, not sure).

But to answer your first question, yes, both sides had hard runways.