Spassk-Dalny Airfield

Spassk-Dalny Airfield, also known in the US intelligence community as Spassk-Dalniy East, was a Soviet Air Force base in Primorsky Krai, Russia located 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Spassk-Dalny, Russia. Spassk-Dalny was primarily a Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) interceptor airfield for defending against Western aircraft, with the 821st Fighter Aviation Regiment (11th Air Army) based here. However, the 219th Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment of the 30th Air Army, Long Range Aviation was also a tenant during the 1950s and 1960s, operating Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft for intelligence operations around east Asia.

Spassk-Dalny
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRussian Air Force
LocationSpassk-Dalny, Primorsky Krai, Russia
BuiltUnknown
In useUnknown
Elevation AMSL344 ft / 105 m
Coordinates44°36′47″N 132°53′13″E
Map
Spassk-Dalny is located in Primorsky Krai
Spassk-Dalny
Spassk-Dalny
Location in Primorsky Krai
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 10,008 3,050 Concrete

History

In the late 1940s the airfield was populated by the 18th and 51st Brigades of the 27th Air Division.[1]

In the early 1960s Sukhoi Su-7 and Su-9 were based here.[2]

A 1966 satellite overflight spotted 21 Tu-16 Badger, 18 Su-7 Fitter, 21 Yak-28 Firebar, and 2 MiG-15 Fagot at this airfield.[3] The CIA in 1969 identified the Firebar aircraft as the nearest potential threat to SR-71 operations over North Korea.[4] The base's role diminished in the 1970s with the deployment of advanced MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft at Chuguyevka 60 miles (100 km) to the southeast.

In 1985 the CIA reported that Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23P (Flogger-G) and the training variant MiG-23U (Flogger-C) were crated at Spassk-Dalny and sent to Cam Ranh Base in Vietnam.[5]

Google Earth imagery in 2005 showed the airfield was already abandoned and by the 2010s that the airfield was being torn up for reclamation of concrete.

References
  1. AIR INFORMATION: DISPOSITION OF AIR FORCE UNITS ATTACHED TO THE SOVIET ARMY AND NAVY IN THE FAR EAST, CIA-RDP82-00457R001600820009-9, Central Intelligence Agency, July 13, 1948.
  2. SURVIVABILITY OF THE U-2 OVER CHINA, CIA-RDP75B00285R000200060021-1, Central Intelligence Agency, May 23, 1962.
  3. CABLE TO DIRNSA FROM NPIC, CIA-RDP78B04558A001600010017-6, Central Intelligence Agency, September 28, 1966.
  4. OXCART RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTH KOREA, IA-RDP69B00041R001600030001-8, Central Intelligence Agency, 1969.
  5. FLOGGER ASSEMBLY CAM RANH BAY AIRFIELD, VIETNAM (SANITIZED), CIA-RDP85T00060R000300370001-1, Central Intelligence Agency, January 2, 1985.
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