Željava Air Base

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Željava Air Base also know as Bihać Air Base was the largest underground airport and military airbase in the former Yugoslavia.

[edit] History

Construction began on the project codenamed "Objekat 505" or Object 505 in 1957. It wass located near Bihać in Bosnia. This base was intensively used during the war in the 1990s. During withdrawal, the JNA destroyed the airport to prevent future use and the Army of Republika Srpska Krajina finalized it's demolition in 1992 with 56 tons of explosives. The ensuing explosion was so powerful that the nearby city of Bihać shook violently.

It was designed to sustain the direct impact of a 20 Kiloton nuclear bomb, equivalent to that dropped at Nagasaki in WWII as the facility had semicircular concrete shields that were arranged every 10 meters to amortize the impact. Its construction began in 1957 and finished in 1965. Estimated cost of construction was 6 billion US dollars.

The air base had access to underground water source, power generators, crew quarters and other facilities which were a strategic advantage in the event of war.

The Facility was under heavy surveillance by the guards who were authorized to open fire on anyone attempting to access the Facility without authorization.

The length of the underground facilities was 3.5 kilometers. The complete object had 4 entrances, 3 of which were for intended for use by fixed-wing aircraft. The entrances were protected by 100 ton pressurized doors. The Facility also had 5 runways.

The facility even had a mess-hall which had the capacity to feed 1000 men. Object 505 had enough food, fuel & arms reserves to 'survive' 30 days without any external intervention.

Fuel to the facility had been supplied with 20 kilometers worth of underground pipes from a military warehouse on Pokoj hill near Bihać city.

Fighter entrance picture taken by SFOR peacekeepers	Inside the object 1992	The abandoned runway and entrance	The fighter entrance abandoned
Armor and Vehicle entrance	Armor and Vehicle entrance closeup	Fighter entrance looking outward	The ruined runway
Blueprints of the object showing off various aspects	Abandoned runway	The runway mined to prevent future capture and use	The fighter entrance being examined by peacekeepers
One of the mined corridors	The ingrown fighter entrance	Blueprints showing aspects of the object	Cross section of the base
An article before the war