Orlovka (air base)

Orlovka
Svobodny, Amur Oblast in Russia
Site information
TypeAir Base
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRussian Air Force
Location
Orlovka
Shown within Amur Oblast
Orlovka
Orlovka (Russia)
Coordinates51°15′48″N 128°43′12″E / 51.26333°N 128.72000°E / 51.26333; 128.72000
Site history
In use1960 - 2001 (2001)
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: XHBO
Elevation259 metres (850 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
15/33 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) Concrete

Orlovka (also given as Orlovke or Vernoye) was an airbase of the Soviet Air Defence Forces in Amur Oblast, Russia located 8 km north of Vernoye, in the Svobodny, Amur Oblast area. It is close to Ukrainka, a Long Range Aviation strategic bomber base. In the 1960s Orlovka was a deployment and dispersal airfield, then was upgraded in the early 1970s following an increase in military forces near the Chinese border after the Sino-Soviet split.[1][2] Orlovka is a hardened airfield with a large central tarmac area.

The base was closed in 2001 and is since abandoned.

Units stationed at Orlovka included:

  • 404th Fighter Aviation Regiment (404 IAP) equipped with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23P (ASCC: Flogger) and then Sukhoi Su-27 (ASCC: Flanker). The regiment moved in from Ozernaya Pad - Kremovo, Primorskiy Kray in 1973; it was established originally in 1944.[3] The regiment was disbanded in 2001 and its awards and honors transferred to the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment at Dzemgi.

References

  1. ^ SOVIET DEPLOYMENT AND DISPERSAL AIRFIELDS ALONG THE CHINA BORDER AND IN MONGOLIA, CIA-RDP78T05162A000200010005-4, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, August 1, 1971.
  2. ^ CABLE (SANITIZED) FROM NPIC, CIA-RDP78B03826A000500020069-3, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, July 16, 1971.
  3. ^ "404th Tallinskiy order of Kutuzov Fighter Aviation Regiment".