Orlovka | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Svobodny, Amur Oblast in Russia | |||||||
  Orlovka Shown within Amur Oblast  Orlovka Orlovka (Russia) | |||||||
| Coordinates | 51°15′48″N128°43′12″E / 51.26333°N 128.72000°E | ||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | Russian Air Force | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| In use | 1960 - 2001 | ||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: XHBO | ||||||
| Elevation | 259 metres (850 ft) AMSL | ||||||
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Orlovka (also given as Orlovke or Vernoye) was an airbase of the Soviet Air Defence Forces in Amur Oblast, Russia located 8 km north of Vernoye, in the Svobodny, Amur Oblast area. It is close to Ukrainka, a Long Range Aviation strategic bomber base. In the 1960s Orlovka was a deployment and dispersal airfield, then was upgraded in the early 1970s following an increase in military forces near the Chinese border after the Sino-Soviet split. [1] [2] Orlovka is a hardened airfield with a large central tarmac area.
The base was closed in 2001 and is since abandoned.
Units stationed at Orlovka included:
- 404th Fighter Aviation Regiment (404 IAP) equipped with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23P (ASCC: Flogger) and then Sukhoi Su-27 (ASCC: Flanker). The regiment moved in from Ozernaya Pad - Kremovo, Primorskiy Kray in 1973; it was established originally in 1944. [3] The regiment was disbanded in 2001 and its awards and honors transferred to the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment at Dzemgi.
