Belaya (air base)

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For other uses, see Bely.
Belaya Air Base
IATA: none – ICAO: UIIB
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Russian Air Force
Location Usolye-Sibirskoye, Russia
Elevation AMSL 1,503 ft / 458 m
Coordinates 52°54′54″N 103°34′30″E / 52.915, 103.575
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
15/33 13,123 4,000 Concrete

Belaya (ICAO: UIIB) is a significant strategic air base in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia located 18 km northwest of Usolye-Sibirskoye and 85 km northwest of Irkutsk. It features significant tarmac space and 38 bomber revetments.

In 1954 Belaya was used as a staging base for Tupolev Tu-4 aircraft sent to China to observe American fusion bomb tests in the Pacific, but the runway was unpaved at this time [1]. Sometime around the late 1950s the airfield was upgraded and its received the nuclear bomber mission. The Tupolev Tu-128 (Fiddler) served here starting during the late 1960s.

Though Belaya was not a part of the Tu-95 forces positioned against North America, its Tu-16, Tu-22, and Tu-22M fleet had a considerable role in Asian strategy. The base was especially important in projecting power against the People's Republic of China following the Sino-Soviet split.

Units stationed at Belaya include:

  • 303 TBAP (303rd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying Tupolev Tu-22M2.
  • 1225 TBAP (1225th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying Tupolev Tu-4 aircraft in 1956-1958 and upgrading to Tupolev Tu-16 in 1958 and Tupolev Tu-16K in 1961. It began flying the Tupolev Tu-22M2 starting in 1982 and retained this aircraft through at least the 1990s [2] [3].
  • 1229 TBAP (1229th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying the same aircraft and receiving the same upgrades at the same times as 1225 TBAP.
  • 1339 TBAP (1339th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying Tupolev Tu-16 bombers. (Source of information may not be reliable)
  • 350 IAP (350th Interceptor Aviation Regiment) flying Tupolev Tu-128 long-range interceptors starting in the late 1960s. This unit moved to Bratsk Airport in 1984.

As of 2006, Google Earth imagery showed a total of 26 Tupolev Tu-22M medium-range bombers visible in revetments.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Pages from a diary of the Colonel Strunova Peter Vladimirovicha's resignation. Airforce.ru..
  2. ^ Dal'nyaya Aviatsiya. Aviabaza KPOI.
  3. ^ Take-OffF. take-off.ru.
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