Vatega (air base)

Vatega (also Onega Andozero (US)), Ватега авиабазы, is an abandoned air base in Russia located 16 km east of the port town of Onega, Arkhangelsk Oblast and 127 km southwest of Arkhangelsk. It was designed as a highly modernized, large airfield for the Soviet Union's heavy bomber fleet.

Vatega Onega Andozero
Ватега авиабазы
Onega, Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia
Vatega Shown within Arkhangelsk Oblast Show map of Arkhangelsk Oblast Vatega Vatega (Russia) Show map of Russia
Coordinates	63°55′24″N 038°24′42″E
Type	Air Base
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Russian Air Force
Site history
Built	1977 (1977)
In use	1977 - 1995 (1995)
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: ZA0F
Elevation	87 metres (285 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 12/30 3,500 metres (11,483 ft) Concrete

The earliest available Western intelligence documents identified the airfield in 1977 as under construction.[1] Some Russian sources claim the airfield was intended to serve as an alternate landing site for the Soviet 'Buran' space shuttle. Construction ceased in the mid-1980s due to the slowdown in the Russian economy, and the military abandoned the property in 1995.[2]

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Vatega was extensively dismantled and sold for scrap. Around 2004 some of the guilty parties were reportedly convicted and either sent to prison or forced to pay heavy fines.[3]