Leonidovo (air base)

Leonidovo
Leonidovo
	IATA: none; ICAO: none;
Summary
Airport type	Prob. abandoned
Operator	Soviet Naval Aviation
Location	Leonidovo
Elevation AMSL	59 ft / 18 m
Coordinates	49°16′24″N142°55′42″E / 49.27333°N 142.92833°E Coordinates: 49°16′24″N142°55′42″E / 49.27333°N 142.92833°E
Runways

Last updated April 17, 2019

Leonidovo was a Soviet Naval Aviation reserve airfield^[1] in the remote central area of Sakhalin, Russia located 5 km (3 mi) east of Leonidovo. Declassified KH-7 imagery obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that it existed in June 1966 without much difference compared to today. In recent times (probably 1990s) it was shortened to 2000 m. High-resolution Google Earth imagery shows that the airfield has been decommissioned, with the 2 km (1 mi) runway being used as a storage pad for petroleum industry supplies.

Soviet Naval Aviation was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Navy.

Sakhalin is Russia's largest island, lying in the North Pacific Ocean between 45°50' and 54°24' N. It is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast. Sakhalin, which is about one third the size of Honshu, is just off the east coast of Russia, and just north of Japan. The island's population was 497,973 as of the 2010 census, made up of mostly ethnic Russians and a smaller Korean community. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Ainu, Oroks and Nivkhs.

Russia, officially the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is by a considerable margin the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.77 million people as of 2019, including Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is one of the largest cities in the world and the second largest city in Europe; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.

Satellite observation of Leonidovo in October 1964 indicated construction at the north and south ends of the runway.^[2] In 1967 there was an "unusual deployment" of 37 medium-range Tupolev Tu-16 Badgers at the airfield.^[3]

The Tupolev Tu-16 was a twin-engined jet strategic heavy bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has flown for more than 60 years, and the Chinese licence-built Xian H-6 remains in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force.

Also see Matrosovo air base.

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References

↑ 197803_VOL. 3 OF 4 VOLUMES ANNUAL INDEX TO PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLOITATION PRODUCTS JANUARY-DECEMBER 1978, CREST: CIA-RDP79T01184A000100030001-6, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
↑ 196412_MISSION COVERAGE INDEX MISSION 1012 17-22 OCTOBER 1964, CREST: CIA-RDP78B04560A004300010001-0, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
↑ 196710_CABLE TO DIRNSA FROM NPIC, 25 October 1967, CREST: CIA-RDP78B03817A000900020029-3, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

External links

RussianAirFields.com

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[1] 197803_VOL. 3 OF 4 VOLUMES ANNUAL INDEX TO PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLOITATION PRODUCTS JANUARY-DECEMBER 1978, CREST: CIA-RDP79T01184A000100030001-6, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

[2] 196412_MISSION COVERAGE INDEX MISSION 1012 17-22 OCTOBER 1964, CREST: CIA-RDP78B04560A004300010001-0, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

[3] 196710_CABLE TO DIRNSA FROM NPIC, 25 October 1967, CREST: CIA-RDP78B03817A000900020029-3, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.