WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force has upgraded its high-tech poor visibility landing systems at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
"In late December, Ramstein became the first U.S. Air Force base to start using the Category III Instrument Landing System, according to base officials," the Air Force Times reported Tuesday. "The Cat III gear allows pilots to land planes in poor visibility -- as bad as 200 meters and a cloud ceiling at ground level," the newspaper said.
USAF officials at Ramstein told the Air Force Times that "on average, there are about 35 days each year that require use of the Cat III or less capable Cat II landing systems," the report said.
Ramstein has a reputation for poor visibility because its runways "are surrounded on three sides by mountains and ridgelines that trap morning fog banks," the Air Force Times said.
"In the past, airplanes that couldn't land at Ramstein often diverted to Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt, Germany. But with Rhein-Main now closed as part of the expansion of Frankfurt's commercial airport, diverting to Rhein-Main wasn't an option," the paper said.
The report noted that as part of the Rhein-Main closure, the German coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel had financed part of the new Cat III system at Ramstein to help compensate for the closure of Rhein-Main. The new system went fully operational on Dec. 22, it said.
