Nonstop flight route between Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Sardeh Band, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR), Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States and Sardeh Band Airport (SBF), Sardeh Band, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,755 miles (or 10,870 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Sardeh Band Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Grand Forks Air Force Base and Sardeh Band Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR):

• Opened 57 years ago in early 1957, the base's current host unit is the 319th Air Base Wing assigned to the Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command.
• In addition to being known as "Grand Forks Air Force Base", another name for RDR is "Grand Forks AFB".
• The 319th transitioned from B-52H to re-engined B-52G aircraft in 1983, and added the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile in 1984.
• The closest airport to Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Grand Forks International Airport (GFK), which is located only 10 miles (17 kilometers) E of RDR.
• The furthest airport from Grand Forks Air Force Base (RDR) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 10,504 miles (16,904 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Grand Forks Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and 16 miles west of Grand Forks.
• During the Cold War, GFAFB was a major installation of the Strategic Air Command, with B-52 bombers, KC-135 tankers, and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
• SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB to the west.
• On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks, the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site.

Facts about Sardeh Band Airport (SBF):

• In addition to being known as "Sardeh Band Airport", other names for SBF include "Sardeh Band Airport (Sardeh Band)" and "Band E Sardeh Dam Airport".
• Sardeh Band Airport (SBF) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Sardeh Band Airport (SBF) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,996 miles (19,306 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• On 12 June 2002 a Lockheed MC-130H Hercules was participating in a night exfiltration mission to remove U.S.
• The closest airport to Sardeh Band Airport (SBF) is Ghazni Airport (GZI), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) NW of SBF.
• Sardeh Band Airport, also known as Band E Sardeh Dam Airport, is an airport located near the village of Sardeh Band and about 1 kilometre north of the Russian-built dam called Band E Sardeh Dam.
• Because of Sardeh Band Airport's high elevation of 6,971 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SBF. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SBF a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.