Olenya (air base)
| Olenya | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military Northern Fleet | ||||||||||
| Operator | Russian Navy | ||||||||||
| Location | Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 702 ft / 214 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 68°09′06″N 033°28′12″E / 68.15167°N 33.47000°ECoordinates: 68°09′06″N 033°28′12″E / 68.15167°N 33.47000°E | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
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; Russian: 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.
Military operations
Units stationed at the airfield since the 1990s include:[1]
- 924 MRAP (924th Naval Reconnaissance Air Regiment), operating Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft
- 967 ODRAP (967th Long Range Air Reconnaissance Regiment), operating Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft
- 88 OMAPIB (88th Separate Fighter Bomber Regiment), operating Mikoyan MiG-27 aircraft
- OGA (Arctic Control Group), maintaining standby facilities for Tupolev Tu-95 bomber aircraft
- 458th IAP, Mikoyan MiG-31BM
References
- ↑ "Aviatsiya VMF". Aviabaza KPOI.