Bobrovka (air base)

Bobrovka
Kinel, Samara Oblast in Russia
Bobrovka is located in Samara Oblast
Bobrovka
Bobrovka
Shown within Samara Oblast
Bobrovka is located in Russia
Bobrovka
Bobrovka
Bobrovka (Russia)
Coordinates53°08′42″N 050°42′52″E / 53.14500°N 50.71444°E / 53.14500; 50.71444
TypeAir Base
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRussian Armed Forces
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: XWWO
Elevation112 metres (367 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
04/22 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) Concrete

Bobrovka was a military air base in Samara Oblast, Russia, and is now a civilian airfield. It is located 39 km east of the city of Samara. The base largely served the interceptor role for the Soviet Air Defence Force,[1] and from 1960 was part of 4th Independent Air Defence Army.

Currently, it is not used as a military airfield, in fact it is only a sports airfield - since 2000, the Samara regional flying club of the Russian DOSAAF has been based there.[2]

Near the airfield there is the village of Oktyabrsky, which is part of the rural settlement of Bobrovka, which previously served as a military town to accommodate military personnel from military units based at the airfield, as well as their families.

Bobrovka had been observed by 1957 by U.S. Lockheed U-2 overflights.[3] A 1974 US satellite mission identified up to 89 swept-wing aircraft, most of which were likely Sukhoi Su-9 (NATO: Fishpot) aircraft.[4] By 1981 the interceptor regiment was one of four in the USSR still operating the Su-9.[1]

Bobrovka became the Soviet Union's primary storage facility for the aging Su-9, and by 1981 at least 243 Su-9 aircraft were observed parked at Bobrovka.[1]

The base was home to the:

  • 683rd Fighter Aviation Regiment between 1952 and 1997[5]

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the regiment became part of the Russian Air Defence Forces.

237th Independent Helicopter Squadron (Military Unit Number 34395) equipped with Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters, was created in 1998 on the basis of the disbanded 437th and 95th training helicopter regiments, based in Ozinki and Serdobsk, respectively (the latter was based at the Tashchilovka airfield, now closed, near the railway station of the same name).[6] Initially, two detachments were formed (Mi-8 detachment and Mi-24 detachment). In 2001, the unit was joined by the 1st squadron (Mi-24 helicopters) from the 793rd separate transport and combat helicopter regiment (military unit 62977), based in the area of the village of Kinel-Cherkassy (based at the airfield of the same name, now abandoned). The squadron was reorganized into a link structure (three Mi-24 flights and one Mi-8 flight). In 2010, the squadron was disbanded.

References

  1. ^ a b c PHASEOUT OF FISHPOT IN APVO STRANYY AIRFIELDS USSR, February 1981, CREST: CIA-RDP81T00380R000100980001-5, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
  2. ^ Доклад начальника Самарского областного аэроклуба[dead link‍]; "Самарский Областной аэроклуб ДОСААФ России". 2 November 2011.; Владимир Комин (2015-04-14). "В Бобровке отметили 100-летие войск ПВО". Волжская коммуна (газ). p. 9. Archived from the original on 2018-05-10.
  3. ^ NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE SURVEY 26; SOVIET UNION; TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS, May 1957, CREST: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090035-8, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
  4. ^ OAK SUPPLEMENT PART 20 KH-9 MISSION 1207 11 NOVEMBER 1973 - 20 FEBRUARY 1974, May 1974, CREST: CIA-RDP78T04752A001600010010-9.pdf, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
  5. ^ Holm, Michael. "683rd Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991 Organisation and order of battle. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Сердобск". Sarvvaul.ru. Saratov Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. Archived from the original on 2018-05-10. Retrieved 2018-05-09.


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