Shatalovo air base
Shatalovo | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
Operator | Russian Air Force | ||||||||||
Location | Pochinok (town) | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 192 ft / 59 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 54°20′24″N 032°28′24″E / 54.34000°N 32.47333°E | ||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Shatalovo (also given as Pochinok, Satalovo, and Shatoalovo) is an air base in Smolensk Oblast, Russia located 8 km south of Pochinok. It is a large hardened air base with pads for 19 bombers and 15 fighters in addition to a small amount of tarmac space. It is a nuclear bomber base (Su-24) according to a Natural Resources Defense Council study. During the 1980s it was one of 17 airfields hosting the Soviet Union's tactical reconnaissance aircraft regiments.[1] The normal complement at the air base in 1984 consisted of 9 to 13 each of the Su-24M and MiG-25R, and 3 to 5 Yak-28R, the latter of which was being phased out.[1]
History
In World War II, the German Luftwaffe occupied the local area and maintained two airfields: "Shatalovka-East" (54°22′10″N 32°32′10″E / 54.36944°N 32.53611°E) which was later abandoned and returned to farmland, and "Shatalovka-West" (54°20′20″N 32°28′30″E / 54.33889°N 32.47500°E) which became the modern air base.
The 32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was stationed at the base from 1968 until it disbanded on 30 June 1989.[2] It was part of the 9th Fighter Aviation Division headquartered at Kubinka.
Shatalovo was home to 164 ORAP (164th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment) flying MiG-25 and Su-24 aircraft and 47 Gv ORAP (47th Guards Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment) flying MiG-25RB aircraft.[3] It was also used by 1046 TsBP i PLS (1046th Aircrew Combat Training and Retraining Centre) flying 17 MiG-25, 14 Su-17C, and 13 Su-24 aircraft in 1991.[4]
References
- ^ a b STATUS OF SOVIET TACTICAL RECONNAISSANCE FORCES USSR/EASTERN EUROPE/AFGHANISTAN(SANITIZED), March 22, 1984, CIA-RDP84T00491R000101240001-9, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ "32nd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment". Ww2.dk. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
- ^ Butowski, Pyotr (2004). Air Power Analysis: Russian Federation. AIRtime Publishing, Inc.
- ^ "37 Vozdushnaya Armiya VGK". Brinkster.com.
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