Smolensk North Airport

Smolensk North Airport
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Russian Air Force
Location Smolensk
Time zone UTC+4 (+4)
Elevation AMSL 820 ft / 250 m
Coordinates 54°49′30″N 032°1′30″E / 54.82500°N 32.02500°E / 54.82500; 32.02500Coordinates: 54°49′30″N 032°1′30″E / 54.82500°N 32.02500°E / 54.82500; 32.02500
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
08/26 8,202 2,500 Concrete

Smolensk North Airport (Russian военный аэродром "Смоленск-Северный", "Smolensk North Military Aerodrome") is a decommissioned military airbase in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located 4 km north of the city of Smolensk. It is now used as Smolensk's sole airport for civil and military flights.[3] It has a remote revetment area with 8 pads and a Yakovlev factory at the southeast side of the airfield, the Smolensk Aviation Plant.

The airport was originally built in the 1920s, and it eventually became a class 1 airfield with a runway 2500 m long and 49 m wide, capable of handling planes over 75 tons in weight.[4]

Prior to 1991, it was home to the 401 IAP (401st Interceptor Aviation Regiment,[4] disbanded around 1990), flying MiG-23P aircraft, and the 871 IAP, flying MiG-23 and Su-27.

From 1946[4] until 2009, the base hosted an airlift unit, the 103 Gv VTAP (103rd Guards Military Air Transport Regiment, full name in Russian: 103-й гвардейский Красносельский Краснознамённый военно-транспортный авиационный полк имени Героя Советского Союза В. С. Гризодубовой),[5] flying Ilyushin Il-76 jets.[6][7] At one point, about 28 Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft were based there.

The regiment was disbanded in the fall of 2009, and since then there have been no active units at the base except for a small airbase command post.[5]

After the disbanding of the regiment, the airfield has been functioning in part as a civilian airport since October 2009.[4]

Military radar type RSP-6M, similar to the one used at Smolensk North Airport

Accidents and incidents

A Polish government Tu-154M Lux carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and an official delegation crashed during the final approach to the airport on 10 April 2010. All 96 aboard perished.[8]

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Questions loom over disastrous Polish presidential flight.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Аэродром Смоленск-Северный". "Kommersant". 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  5. 1 2 "Эксперт: На пилотов самолета с польским президентом могло оказываться давление". REGNUM News Agency. 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
  6. ↑ "37 Vozdushnaya Armiya VGK". Brinkster.com.
  7. ↑ Butowski, Pyotr (2004). Air Power Analysis: Russian Federation. AIRtime Publishing, Inc.
  8. ↑ Golloher, Jessica (10 April 2010)"Polish President, 95 Others Killed in Plane Crash ", VOA News, 10 April 2010, Retrieved April 10, 2010
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