Vozzhayevka
Vozzhayevka, Amur Oblast in Russia
A declassified 1950s-era hand sketch of Vozzhayevka, created by CIA intelligence operatives working in the area.
Vozzhayevka is located in Amur Oblast
Vozzhayevka
Vozzhayevka
Shown within Amur Oblast
Vozzhayevka is located in Russia
Vozzhayevka
Vozzhayevka
Vozzhayevka (Russia)
Coordinates50°46′12″N 128°46′36″E / 50.77000°N 128.77667°E / 50.77000; 128.77667
TypeAir Base
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRussian Air Force
Site history
Built1948 (1948)
In use1948 - present
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: UHWV
Elevation225 metres (738 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
01/19 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) Concrete

Vozzhayevka (also Vozzhayevka Northeast (US)) is an air base in Amur Oblast, Russia located about 100 km southeast of Blagoveshchensk. It is a medium-sized air base located near an SS-11 missile field at Svobodnyy. During the 1980s it was one of 17 airfields hosting the Soviet Union's tactical reconnaissance aircraft regiments.[1]

Units stationed at Vozzhayevka include:

  • 293 ORAP (293rd Independent Aviation Reconnaissance Regiment) and 56 APIB (56rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying Sukhoi Su-17M3R (NATO: Fitter) aircraft in the late 1980s [2] and the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (NATO: Foxbat) until 1987. The regiment was under 1 OA (1st Air Army, i.e. Far East Air Army).

History

In July 1948 the 10th Air Army was transferred from Sakhalin Island to Vozzhayevka.[3] One of the first U-2 flights over the region in 1958 revealed five Tupolev Tu-4 (NATO: Bull) bombers.[4]

In the late 1960s, a runway extension and 30 new hardstands were added, and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (NATO: Fresco) and Yakovlev Yak-25 (NATO: Mandrake) were being operated at the airfield.[5] An October 1972 reconnaissance satellite analysis showed six MiG-17, three Yakovlev Yak-28 (NATO: Brewer), three Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTI (NATO: Fagot) trainers, with small numbers of older fighters and transports.[6]

By 1980, the airfield was operating Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO: Fencer-A) aircraft[7] By 1984 the Soviet Union had begun deploying advanced MiG-25R aircraft to the airfield, and a normal complement at the airfield then consisted of 5 to 16 MiG-25R and 7 to 11 MiG-21R reconnaissance aircraft.[1]

An Ilyushin Il-76MD (NATO: Candid) destined for Vozzhayevka crash-landed at Astrakhan on June 20, 2000.

Satellite imagery from 2010 onward showed the base to abandoned, with the remains of several Su-24 Fencer aircraft strewn about the storage areas.

References

  1. 1 2 STATUS OF SOVIET TACTICAL RECONNAISSANCE FORCES USSR/EASTERN EUROPE/AFGHANISTAN(SANITIZED), March 22, 1984, CIA-RDP84T00491R000101240001-9, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
  2. ↑ "37 Vozdushnaya Armiya VGK". Brinkster.com.
  3. ↑ AIR AND GROUND ORDER OF BATTLE, CIA-RDP82-00457R004100090007-4, Central Intelligence Agency, 1950.
  4. ↑ JOINT MISSION COVERAGE SUMMARY MISSION C 6011 1 MARCH 1958, CIA-RDP78T04753A000700010021-3, Central Intelligence Agency, March 31, 1958.
  5. ↑ INCREASED ACTIVITY VOZZHAYEVKA AIRFIELD NORTHEAST USSR, CIA-RDP78T05929A003200070005-4, Central Intelligence Agency, August 22, 1968.
  6. ↑ OAK SUPPLEMENT PART 8 KH-9 MISSION 1204 11 OCTOBER - 17 DECEMBER 1972 (TOP SECRET), CIA-RDP78T04752A000100010005-1, Central Intelligence Agency, January 1, 1973.
  7. ↑ NEW SOVIET TACTICAL AIR-TO-SURFACE MISSILE AND SHIPPING CONTAINER, CIA-RDP81T00380R000100060001-6, Central Intelligence Agency, March 1, 1981.


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