Batajnica Air Base
Batajnica Air Base Аеродром Батајница Aerodrom Batajnica | |||||||||||||||||||
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Batajnica control tower | |||||||||||||||||||
Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
Airport type | Military air base | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator | Serbian Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Belgrade, Serbia | ||||||||||||||||||
Built | 1947 | ||||||||||||||||||
In use | 1951 - present | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | ft / 86 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 44°56′07″N 020°15′27″E / 44.93528°N 20.25750°ECoordinates: 44°56′07″N 020°15′27″E / 44.93528°N 20.25750°E | ||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Batajnica Air Base | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Batajnica Air Base (IATA: BJY, ICAO: LYBT) (Serbian: Аеродром Бaтajницa / Aerodrom Batajnica) is a military air base in Serbia. The airport is located between Batajnica and Nova Pazova, about 25 km northwest from the center of Belgrade. Batajnica is the only airport in Serbia with two runways.
History
Construction of the airbase started in 1947 and was completed in 1951, when the airbase was officially opened. The purpose of the airbase was to protect the capital from attack. One grass and two asphalted runways are used. It was known as 177th Air Base, which was its name until the 2006 reorganization.
Batajnica was home of 204th Fighter-Aviation regiment, 138th Transport-Aviation Regiment and other units of Yugoslav Air Force.
During the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia the airbase was heavily bombed for 25 days and sustained heavy damage.
In June 2006, two USAF F-16 fighter jets, visited Batajnica airbase. It was the first official visit of USAF aircraft in more than 20 years and the first since the bombing.
Units
Serbian Air Force units operating from Batajnica Air Base:
- 204th Air Brigade, composed of:[1]
- 101st Fighter Aviation Squadron with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21's and Mikoyan MiG-29UM's.[2]
- 252nd Training Squadron
- 138th Transport Squadron
- 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron
- 24th Air Force Technical Battalion
- 17th Air Base Security Battalion
- 177th Air Force Air Defence Artillery Battalion
- Air Force and Air Defense Training Center[3]
- Aeronautical Plant "Moma Stanojlović"
- Military Technical Testing Center Flight Test Section
References
- ↑ 204TH AIR FORCE BRIGADE Archived March 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. February 2017. p. 10.
- ↑ AIR FORCE TRAINING CENTER Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batajnica Air Base. |
- Airport information for LYBT at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
- Batajnica Airport map*
- Batajnica Airbase pre-strike with visible control tower