Ozerne Air Base | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ozerne, Zhytomyr Oblast in Ukraine | |||||||
Coordinates | 50°9′30″N028°44′18″E / 50.15833°N 28.73833°E | ||||||
Type | Air Base | ||||||
Site information | |||||||
Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
Operator | Ukrainian Air Force | ||||||
Site history | |||||||
Built | 1933 | ||||||
In use | 1933 - present | ||||||
Battles/wars | 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine | ||||||
Airfield information | |||||||
Identifiers | ICAO: UKKO | ||||||
Elevation | 83 metres (272 ft) AMSL | ||||||
|
Ozerne( ICAO : UKKO) is an air base of the Ukrainian Air Force located near Ozerne, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine.
The base is home to the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade flying Sukhoi Su-27UB and Aero L-39C Albatross aircraft. [1]
Ozerne (Ukrainian : Озерне, given in source material under the plethora of names: Zhytomyr Ozerna, Ozernyy, Ozernoye, Oziernoye, Ozernoe, Ozernoye, Ozyornoye, Ozyornaya, and in US intelligence as Zhitomir/Skomorokhi).
The airbase was erected 1933 by the Red Army and expanded 1942 by the German Luftwaffe and was called Flughafen Hegewald. Nearby were the headquarters of Heinrich Himmler and the base was surrounded by the settlements of the new German Hegewald colony. 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division was stationed at the base from 1945 to 1994. [2] In 1965 Ozerne began receiving Tupolev Tu-22 (Blinder) aircraft. By 1967 it had 31 Tu-22 aircraft, and in 1968 it received Tu-22PD aircraft. [3] A Tu-22 crash-landed here in 1969 due to a stall during the landing flare; this incident was captured by a movie camera and used in the motion picture Tenderness for the Roaring Beast. [3]
In December 1989 the 251st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast) with Tu-16K were transferred under the control of the 43rd Center for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel of Long Range Aviation, located in the Russian SFSR. In 1990 the division comprised the:
With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two regiments in Belarus were transferred to other commands and the 251st Regiment rejoined the division. Units stationed at Ozernoye include the:
Currently the airfield is home to about 15 advanced fighter aircraft visible in Google Earth high-resolution imagery. The north airfield appears to contain a huge army salvage yard.
Since 2018 the base is the home of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force.
A Sukhoi Su-27 crash landed on December 15, 2018, while approaching the airfield during a training flight. The pilot, Maj. Oleksandr Fomenko, did not survive the crash. [5]
During the opening hours of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, a Su-27 and refueling vehicle were destroyed at apron as a result of Russian missile strike. [6]
The Tupolev Tu-22 was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Naval Aviation in the 1960s.
The Tupolev Tu-22M is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. The bomber was reported as being designated Tu-26 by Western intelligence at one time. During the Cold War, the Tu-22M was operated by the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in a missile carrier strategic bombing role, and by the Soviet Naval Aviation in a long-range maritime anti-shipping role.
Belaya is a significant Russian Aerospace Forces Long-Range Aviation base in Usolsky District, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Usolye-Sibirskoye and 85 kilometres (53 mi) northwest of Irkutsk. From 2009 it has sometimes been known as Srednii. It has significant ramp space and 38 bomber revetments.
Ukrainka is one of Russia's largest strategic Long Range Aviation bases in the Russian Far East. Located in Amur Oblast, Russia, 28 km north of Belogorsk, and 8 km north of the town of Seryshevo, it is a major nuclear bomber base, with large tarmacs and nearly 40 revetments.
Soltsy-2 is an air base in Novgorod Oblast, Russia located 2 km north of Soltsy and 72 km southwest of Novgorod. It contains large aircraft revetments, with a separate compound of 9 hardened areas about 1 mile from the airfield.
Long-Range Aviation is a sub-branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces responsible for delivering long-range nuclear or conventional strikes by aircraft. The Russian Long Range Aviation and its now-dissolved Ukrainian counterpart were both previously part of the Soviet Air Forces, before it was split into the Air Forces of its many successor states, most notably the Russian Air Force and Ukrainian Air Force. Those branches were tasked with long-range bombardment of strategic targets with nuclear weapons.
Ostrov is a Russian Aerospace Forces air base in Pskov Oblast, Russia located 7 km southeast of Ostrov and 57 km south of Pskov. It was subordinate to the Baltic Fleet and was a nuclear bomber facility with 15 very large revetments on the east side of the airfield and about 30 small revetments on the west side. As many as 63 Tupolev Tu-16s were based here. A US intelligence analysis in 1984 identified a normal complement of 52 Tu-16 aircraft at Ostrov. The base hosted the Russian Navy's 444th Center for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel Naval Aviation.
Migalovo is an air base in Tver Oblast, Russia located 10 km west of Tver. It is a large military airlift base. It currently houses all of Russia's remaining Antonov An-22 fleet. It is an Ilyushin Il-76 base, with some Antonov An-12 aircraft stored.
Chelyabinsk Shagol is a military airfield of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia.
Kaliningrad Chkalovsk is a naval air base in Chkalovsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia located 9 kilometers northwest of Kaliningrad. Most instances in Russian aviation literature of Chkalovsk or Chkalovskoye refer specifically to this large airfield. A significant Baltic naval base, it is Kaliningrad's largest airfield with four separate complexes for bomber and fighter parking.
Chernyakhovsk Air Base is a military air base of the Russian Navy's Baltic Fleet, located 4 km south-west of the city of Chernyakhovsk in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is a medium-sized interceptor airfield, listed as a nuclear bomber base by a Natural Resources Defense Council study.
Dyagilevo is a military air base in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, 3 km west of Ryazan. It serves as a training center for Russia's strategic bomber force.
Zyabrovka is a military air base located 16 km southeast of Gomel, Gomel Region, Belarus.
Nizhyn is an air base in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine 4 km (2.5 mi) north of Nizhyn. It was operated by the Soviet Long Range Aviation and Ukrainian Long Range Aviation. It is a medium-sized bomber base with a modern design and is being used to store some of Ukraine's older bombers. The airfield has 33 large revetments along a curved taxiway.
Stryi was an air base in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine located 4 km southwest of Stryi. It was a large base with 6 km of parking area taxiways and numerous revetments.
Poltava Air Base is a military airfield located approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) northwest of Poltava, Ukraine. It is one of two airfields near Poltava, the other being Poltava Airport.
The 24th Air Army was an Air army of the Soviet Air Forces, active from 1980, and probably inactivated in 1992. Its headquarters was located at Vinnitsa.
Vozdvizhenka is an air base in Primorsky Krai located close to the village of Vozdvizhenka. This base was dedicated to Pacific heavy long-range bomber fleet, housing the 444th Berlin Order of Kutuzov 3rd degree and Alexander Nevsky Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, part of the 326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, 37th Air Army.
Baranovichi is an air base of the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Republic of Belarus and formerly of the Soviet Air Force. It has the ICAO airport code UMMA.
Taganrog-Central is a military airfield in the city of Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Russia. It has one concrete runway.