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.
Tiksi Aerodrome is located 1 km (0.6 mi) northeast of Tiksi, Russia, and was built in the 1950s as a staging base for Soviet Long Range Aviation bombers to reach the United States. It is used regularly by Tupolev Tu-95 aircraft in military exercises, including one in 1999, in which bombers practice travelling to the Canadian arctic. Two other nearby airfields known as Tiksi North and Tiksi West have been abandoned for decades, and are probably unusable, according to satellite imagery.
Umbozero is a Soviet Naval Aviation and Russian Navy reserve airfield in Murmansk Oblast, Russia located in the southwest Kola Peninsula 3 km north of Umbozero. It is located 165 km southeast of Murmansk. This airfield provides 20 revetments for combat aircraft.
Olenya has been a major Russian Navy reconnaissance base, located on the Kola Peninsula 92 km south of Murmansk. As of 2020, units at the base are subordinate to the Long-Range Aviation branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The base and its staff settlement, across Lake Permusozero from the city of Olenegorsk, are served by the Olenegorsk rail station. Olenya has served as the headquarters for 5 MRAD, and has hosted 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.
Ugolny Airport is a mixed-use military and civil airfield in the Russian Far East located 11 km east of Anadyr, separated from the town by the waters of Anadyrsky Liman. The airfield was originally constructed in the 1950s as a staging base for Long Range Aviation bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-22M. During the Cold War years it became the primary hub for civilian flights in the Chukotka region.
Alykel International Airport is a large international airport in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Norilsk. Alykel is the only functional airfield near Norilsk. It handles medium-sized aircraft and is serviced by 24-hour operations. Since it is capable of handling wide-body jets, it is a diversion airport on Polar route 1. Since Norilsk does not have road or railroad connections to the rest of the country, the airport is the main gateway to the city.
Aspidnoye, also referred to as Dresba and Krumaya, is an abandoned Russian military airfield near Ambarchik in Nizhnekolymsky District, Sakha Republic, near the border of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, located 41 km north of Petushki and near the now also abandoned settlement of Mikhalkino.
Sharomy is a Naval air base in Kamchatka Krai, Russia located about 143 km north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Sharomy contains hardstands for 12 bombers and 3 fighters. It is believed to have served as a dispersal airfield for Soviet Naval Aviation, and may also be a staging airfield for Long Range Aviation.
Vorkuta Sovetskiy is a military airfield in the Komi Republic, Russia, located 11 km east of Vorkuta. It was one of nine Air Army staging bases in the Arctic for Russian bomber units. It contains one of the largest runways in Russia's Arctic region.
Greem Bell is an airfield of the Russian Air Force in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It is located on Graham Bell Island in the Franz Josef Archipelago, 1372 km north of Khatanga, and is the northernmost airfield in Russia, at latitude 81°N. It is an ice airfield operational only during the winter months, roughly from the end of November to the beginning of March, and uses the internal callsign XLDG. Greem Bell Airfield was shut down in 1994, but re-opened in 2012.
Sredny Ostrov is a small island ('ostrov') and a military airfield in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located in the northern Kara Sea, off the archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya and almost 900 km north of Khatanga which in turn is on the Siberian coast. Sredny is an ice airfield used as an alternate field for Tupolev Tu-95 ("Bear") bombers in the Arctic. It was built in the late 1950s as a staging base for Soviet Long Range Aviation bombers to reach the United States, and was maintained by OGA, which was a caretaker agency for strategic facilities in the Arctic. In March 1979 2 Tu-128 (Fiddler) aircraft were based here. The airfield is believed to be operational, operated by Frontier Guards (FSB) and capable of servicing An-26 and An-72 aircraft.
Ostrov Bolshevik is an airfield on Bolshevik Island in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is the fourth most northernmost airfield in Russia. It was probably constructed around 1960, and is among several very large trans-polar airfields for Russia's strategic bomber force that were either abandoned during construction or served limited use.
Chekurovka was an Arctic military airfield in Sakha Republic, Russia located 89 km southwest of Tiksi. It is a remote, large bomber staging base that was either abandoned during construction or commissioned for emergency use. It was probably built around 1960 as a forward deployment base for the Soviet Union's strategic bomber force and abandoned shortly afterward. Its status and condition are unknown.
Koshka Yavr is a Soviet Naval Aviation and Russian Naval Aviation reserve airfield in Murmansk Oblast, Russia located 25 km southeast of Zapolyarny and 83 km west of Murmansk. It was one of nine primary Arctic staging bases for the Tupolev Tu-22M (Backfire) bomber that was in service in the 1980s.
Mys Shmidta Airport, also known as Cape Shmidt Airport, is a former military airbase in the Iultinsky District of Chukotka, Russia. It is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) southeast of Mys Shmidta. It is a major airfield with a 2,450 by 60 metres concrete tarmac. It was built in 1954 as an Arctic staging base for intercontinental bomber flights, with caretaker services provided by OGA. The gravel overrun suggests that the runway was to eventually be extended to 3000 m. Unlike airports such as the Provideniya Bay Airport, which has always been a civilian airport, or the Iultin Airport, which was constructed specifically to serve the needs of the remote mine nearby, the Mys Shmidta airport was initially part of the ring of forward staging bases used by the Arctic Control Group (OGA) prior to intercontinental ballistic missiles gaining favour as the primary means of long-range defense.
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.
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.
Engels-2 is a strategic bomber military airbase in Russia located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of Saratov. Engels is a major bomber operations base, and is Russia's sole operating location for the Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber. The base has a 3,500-metre (11,500 ft) runway and about 10 large revetments. It is named after the nearby city of Engels, which is named after the Communist philosopher, Friedrich Engels.
Markovo Airport is an airport located in Markovo, in the Chukotka autonomous district of Russia. Starting in the 1940s, Markovo was one of eight stops on the backbone Aeroflot passenger route from Moscow to Anadyr.
Korsakov (also Novaya (US)) was a Soviet Naval Aviation reserve airfield on Sakhalin, Russia located 11 km (7 mi) northeast of Korsakov. It was first listed by US intelligence in 1964, when significant construction of the runway was underway. Due to the long runway length it was likely intended for dispersal of Tupolev Tu-16R medium reconnaissance jets, and may have been built to meet Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky's directive that every American aircraft carrier between Midway Island and the Kuril Ridge be photographed by Soviet Tupolev Tu-16R reconnaissance aircraft.
