Afrikanda
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Afrikanda | |||
---|---|---|---|
IATA: - ICAO: | |||
Summary | |||
Airport type | military | ||
Operator | Russian Air Force | ||
Serves | Afrikanda | ||
Elevation AMSL | 505 ft (154 m) | ||
Coordinates | |||
Runways | |||
Direction | Length | Surface | |
ft | m | ||
8202 | 2500 | Concrete |
Afrikanda is a remote military air base in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Though it is built for fighter operations with 30 revetments, it has largely served the interceptor aircraft role. It was home to the 431 IAP (431st Interceptor Aviation Regiment), which operated 39 Su-15TM jets and a number of Su-27 aircraft (some sources give this as 470 IAP). In 1978 a Sukhoi Su-15 was launched from Afrikanda to intercept Korean Air Flight 902, a Boeing 707 which was later forced down.
It is possible that Afrikanda may have closed around 2000 due to budget cuts; Scramble.nl, a Dutch military aviation site, certainly says so.