from Yugoslavia – previously engaged in building bridges in Iraq – became involved in airfield construction. Due to their specific construction of these airfields – which included taxi-ways leading right out of Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) and laid diagonally to the runways – they became known as "Trapezoids" or "Yugos". The facilities were divided into two categories: "surface" and "underground". The "surface" facilities were actually the "softest", and included maintenance hangars of metal construction, and HAS of concrete construction. In total, the Yugoslavs have built no less but 200 HAS on different airfields in Iraq during the 1980s. The protection of each HAS consisted of one meter thick concrete shells, reinforced by 30 cm thick steel plates. There was only one entrance and this was covered by sliding doors, made of 50 cm thick steel armoured plate and concrete. The HAS' were usually built in small groups – seldom more than five, with each group sharing the same water and power supply, besides having own backup gasoline-powered electrical generator, and each HAS being equipped with a semi-automatic aircraft-refuelling system. In addition, underground facilities that could shelter between four and ten aircraft on average were constructed. In order to build these the Yugoslavs used equipment and construction techniques identical to that use in underground oil-storage depots, additionally concealing the extension and the true purpose of the whole project. The underground facilities were all hardened to withstand a direct hit by a tactical nuclear bomb, buried up to 50 meters below the ground and consisted of the main aircraft "hangar" (consisting of two floors in several cases, connected by 40ts hydraulic lifts), connected with operations, maintenance, and logistical facilities via a net of underground corridors. 1991 Gulf War H-2 became an important target for American F-117 "Stealth" fighter attacks in the opening days of the Gulf war, according to military analysts. The U.S. conducted some 47 raids on the base, effectively closing it for the duration of the war. 2003 Iraq War On 18 March 2003, a combined force of B and D squadron of British 22nd SAS Regiment and 1 squadron of the Australian SASR crossed the Iraqi-Jordanian border and headed towards H-2. The combined force took H-2 virtually unopposed, a company of U.S. Army Rangers and Marines from 45 Commando flew from Jordan to the base, where the SAS/SASR handed the base over to their control. Current status According to