Ostrov Bolshevik (russian: о́стров Большеви́к, ) is an airfield on
Bolshevik Island
__NOTOC__
Bolshevik Island (russian: о́стров Большеви́к, ) is an island in Severnaya Zemlya, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Arctic. The island is named after the political faction of the same name.
History
The island, together with ...
in
Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
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.
Ostrov Bolshevik was created as one of several winter staging bases for the Soviet Union's
Tupolev Tu-95
The Tupolev Tu-95 (russian: Туполев Ту-95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Long-Range Aviation of the ...
bomber fleet. At this type of facility, each fall Army engineering teams would grade the airfield and repair runway markings. During the winter the airfield would receive aircraft on its packed snow surface during periods of increased military posture, then the facility would be abandoned in the spring. The facility appears to have been closed in the 1960s or 1970s as Russia's deterrence force shifted from bombers to
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
s.
See also
*
Chekurovka, abandoned Arctic staging base
*
Aspidnoye (air base), abandoned Arctic staging base
*
Tiksi North
Tiksi North is a former Russian military airfield located 41 km north of Tiksi in Bulunsky District, Sakha Republic. Described as a ghost airfield, its probable use was either as a diversion or dispersal airfield for Soviet bombers. It was ...
, abandoned Arctic staging base
*
Tiksi West
Tiksi West (Tiksi-Zapadny) was a large air base in Sakha Republic, Russia, located about 7 km west of Tiksi. It appeared on Department of Defense navigation charts during the Cold War, and was listed as having a 13,500 ft (4100 met ...
, abandoned Arctic staging base
References
Soviet Long Range Aviation Arctic staging bases
Populated places of Arctic Russia
Former populated places in Russia
Airports in Krasnoyarsk Krai
{{Russia-mil-stub