| Poltava Air Base | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: MIO – ICAO:
MIO
|
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Location | Poltava, Ukraine | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 09/27 | 2,500 | 8,250 | Concrete |
| 09/27 | 2,500 | 8,250 | Grass |
Poltava Air Base (IATA: MIO) is a military airfield located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Poltava, Ukraine. It is one of two airfields near Poltava, the other being Poltava Airport.
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During World War II, the airport was provided to the United States Army Air Forces during the summer of 1944 as a heavy bomber airfield, used by the Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces for shuttle bombing missions (Operation Frantic).
Poltava was designated as USAAF Station 559 for security purposes and was referred to as Station 559 in all messages and written correspondence. Poltava was one of three Ukraine installations operated by Headquarters, Eastern Command, United States Strategic Air Forces, which was stationed at Poltava.
Aircraft would fly into the Airfield from either United Kingdom or Southern Italy after attacking enemy targets in Eastern Europe. The aircraft would refuel and rearm at the airport, then attack enemy targets on return missions to Southern Italy. Bombing missions of Operation Frantic ended in September 1944. American command and maintenance personnel of Operation Frantic remained in Ukraine at Poltava until June 22, 1945, according to operation commander Brigadier General Willian L Ritchie. This date is backed up by numerous sources besides Glenn Infields book. That is the date he and the last remaining American military personnel left Poltava to attend a victory parade celebration (of Nazi surrender) in Moscow as propaganda guests of Joseph Stalin the next day.
Many difficulties were encountered during Operation Frantic that limited its effectiveness. For instance, Joseph Stalin promised U.S. military leaders that the Soviets would handle all air base defenses. When the Luftwaffe bombed the air base on the night of June 21, 1944, the U.S. piloted P-51 Mustang fighter planes were not allowed to take off from the other two U.S. bases nearby to defend Poltava during the two and a half hour attack. Also, not one single Soviet Air Force plane took off (or were allowed to take off by the Soviet high-command) to defend the base. The .50 cal. machine guns mounted on several trucks that Stalin supplied for defense were totally ineffective against the Luftwaffe that night, as none were shot down or altered course during their attack runs. These various difficulties encountered by the U.S. Military when dealing with Stalin and his high-ranking military leaders are covered in depth in Glenn B. Infield's 1973 book.[1] The author makes a good case for the belief that Stalin never had any intentions of being good friends with the West, and only went along with Operation Frantic to the degree necessary to ensure Lend Lease agreements with the United States continued to escalate in magnitude during the war. Several high ranking American military and diplomatic experts with the most experience dealing with the Soviet apparatus of Stalin prior to, and during the war, are cited as having warned the Roosevelt Administration, in no uncertain terms, that any apparent inroads to ongoing peaceful agreements after the war with the Soviet elite were illusions; and that the Soviet leaders had no intentions, ever, of a continued friendship with the West after the war. In this sense, the American tragedy at Poltava was forewarned—as was the "Cold War." Infield's book makes note of the local Ukrainian people's kindness and skilled labor. He also points out, on numerous occasions, the strong bond between Allied soldiers (American and Soviet) when the politics of the leadership was cast aside due to warfare, and the bravery of American and Soviet soldiers' actions united them as comrades-in-arms.
After the war the airfield was rebuilt and was used as a Soviet Air Defence Forces base. Dispersal hardstands were built attached to each end of the single runway, expanded for jet aircraft use, some being hardened with Tab-Vee concrete shelters.
From 1945, the airfield was used by the 13th Guards Dnepropetrovsko-Budapeshtskaya order of Suvorov Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of Soviet Long Range Aviation.[2] From 1991-92 the Soviet Air Force was superseded in the Ukraine by the Ukrainian Air Force, which eventually deployed the Tu-22M3 with the 185th GvTBAP, before this unit was finally disbanded in 2006.
The military use of the airport appears to have ended some years ago, as the concrete in the dispersal areas shows signs of severe deterioration, and several Soviet military aircraft appear to be on static display at the end of a large dispersal runway. Visible aircraft: Tupolev Tu-95 bomber; Tupolev Tu-22M bomber; Tupolev Tu-22 bomber; Tupolev Tu-16 bomber; Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter; Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.