Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!bellcore!att!cbnews!military
From: adrian@math.arizona.edu (Adrian Jones)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: military use of caves
Keywords: Swiss, Algeria
Message-ID: <10263@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 16 Oct 89 01:37:43 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Lines: 45
Approved: military@att.att.com



From: adrian@math.arizona.edu (Adrian Jones)


One can consider the NORAD center in Colorado to be a kind of cave.
Moreover, Swiss Army uses quite a bunch of caves (some natural, but
most are artificial, human-carved, dug in mountains) to store materials,
 weapons, planes,etc...
I remember I saw a documentary on TV a few years ago, showing how the 
army could quickly transform Swiss in a fortress (don't forget that 
about 90% of the houses have their own nuclear shelters).
They showed a swiss air force base in the heart of a montain, with a short
runway inside, closed by giant steel gates. In fact, the runway was extending
on a motorway branch, usually open to traffic they closed when operating 
bombers rather than their normal Mirage III (they used their own version,
with canard wings for more maneuverability and they update electronics.
In fact they recently bought F-17 or F-18).
It was very impressing to look those planes just dashing outta the mountain
bullwark. 
They have plenty of secret places like that. There are even rumors they
hide nuclear submarine on the Constance lake and on the Leman lake, but i
do believe it a joke...

Caves can be use as storage facilities and secret bases, or simply as
a protection place. British dug out the rock of Gibraltar during WWII
as they were afraid of a german offensive through Spain.
In fact, there are big underground rooms 300 yards deep inside the rock
that could stand a nuke attack.

Most of guerillas movement use underground cave either as abris or storage facilties.
For instance, the Erythree guerillas have an underground base just below their 
former main base bombed by soviets and americans in the last 30 years.
Afghans do use caves.
The French Forces hated cave fights. The algerian rebels favored those places
in the mountains, with plenty of issues, difficult to conquer. The french had 
to use grenades and waste ammos shouting in the darkness. 

The Army had to use fire lancers while conquering some japanese strongholds
in Pacific, where the japs dug underground networks.
I remember of a vicious japanese device in Okinawa where they had put 
canons on rail and combined them with a mecanism to open automatically 
the gate of the shelter, then to shoot and close.

	ARIZONA JONES