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 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
Long-Range Aviation ( rus, Авиация Дальнего Действия, r=Aviatsiya dal'nego deystviya, abbr. to AДД, or ADD, and literally ''Aviation of Distant Action'') is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces responsible for delive ...
was also a tenant during the 1950s and 1960s, operating
Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft for intelligence operations around east Asia.
History
In the late 1940s the airfield was populated by the 18th and 51st Brigades of the 27th Air Division.
In the early 1960s
Sukhoi Su-7
The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the ...
and
Su-9 were based here.
A 1966 satellite overflight spotted 21
Tu-16 Badger, 18
Su-7
The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On t ...
Fitter, 21
Yak-28
The Yakovlev Yak-28 (russian: Яковлев Як-28) is a swept wing, turbojet-powered combat aircraft used by the Soviet Union. Produced initially as a tactical bomber, it was also manufactured in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, intercep ...
Firebar, and 2
MiG-15 Fagot at this airfield. The CIA in 1969 identified the Firebar aircraft as the nearest potential threat to
SR-71
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a Range (aeronautics), long-range, high-altitude, Mach number, Mach 3+ military strategy, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporati ...
operations over North Korea. 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.
FLOGGER ASSEMBLY CAM RANH BAY AIRFIELD, VIETNAM (SANITIZED)
CIA-RDP85T00060R000300370001-1, Central Intelligence Agency, January 2, 1985.
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
{{reflist
Soviet Air Force bases