Olenya (air base)
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| Olenya | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: - ICAO: | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | Russian Navy Northern Fleet | ||
| Serves | Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 702 ft (214 m) | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 18/36 | 11,483 | 3,500 | Concrete |
Olenya (also Olenegorsk) is a major Russian Navy reconnaissance base, located on the Kola Peninsula 92 km south of Murmansk. The base and its staff settlement (known as Vysokiy; {{lang-ru|Высокий) across the Lake Permusozero from the city of Olenegorsk, and are served by the Olenegorsk rail station (formerly, Olenya station).
Olenya serves as the headquarters for 5 MRAD (Naval Reconnaissance Air Division) and is host to two reconnaissance regiments. Its 3500 meter runway is the longest on the Kola Peninsula, making it a key facility for intercontinental flights across the North Atlantic basin. Since the Cold War era it has served as a forward deployment field for the Russian Air Force and would have been a staging facility for nuclear strikes on the United States. During the 1960s Olenya was used as a refueling stop on the Moscow to Havana Tupolev Tu-114 route. As of 2006, Google Earth imagery showed nearly 40 Tupolev Tu-22M bombers on the airfield.
[edit] Military operations
Units stationed at the airfield since the 1990s include:[1]
- 924 MRAP (924th Naval Reconnaissance Air Regiment), operating Tupolev Tu-22M and Tupolev Tu-16 aircraft
- 967 ODRAP (967th Long Range Air Reconnaissance Regiment), operating Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft
- 88 OMAPIB (88th Separate Fighter Bomber Regiment), operating MiG-27 aircraft
- OGA (Arctic Control Group), maintaining standby facilities for Tupolev Tu-95 bomber aircraft
[edit] References
- ^ Aviatsiya VMF. Aviabaza KPOI..
