Vyazma Airport (also Vyaz'ma) is an airport in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

located 9 km southeast of

Vyazma Vyazma (russian: Вя́зьма) is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast, and Mozhaysk. Thr ...

. It is currently home to the 440th Independent Helicopter Regiment.

History

In 1960 it was a

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...

base, with the 304th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO flying

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 ...

s; the regiment's fate is unknown following the parent 297th Fighter Aviation Division PVO's deactivation in 1960. An AirForces Monthly (AFM) article in January 1997, written following a visit to the airfield, said that it had housed a

DOSAAF DOSAAF (russian: ДОСААФ), full name ''Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy'' (russian: Добровольное общество содействия армии, авиации и флоту), was a parami ...

training regiment up until about 1980, flying some 80 MiG-17s and two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15UTIs. From 1980 the unit converted to the

Aero L-29 Delfín The Aero L-29 Delfín ( en, Dolphin, NATO reporting name: Maya) is a military jet trainer developed and manufactured by Czechoslovakian aviation manufacturer Aero Vodochody. It is the country's first locally designed and constructed jet airc ...

and then the L-39C Albatros, with around 70 aircraft on strength. When AFM visited, all the now- ROSTO aircraft, roughly 40 L-29s and 30 L-39Cs, were parked in a small area of the airfield, as there were no hangars. The facility at the time was offering sightseeing and proficiency flights to the paying general public in these aircraft in order to make ends meet. Also at the airfield during the AFM visit were many

Mil Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been ...

D/V/Ks and Mil Mi-8TV/MT/MTVs of 440 OVP (''Otdel'nyy Vertoletnyy Polk'', Separate Helicopter Regiment),

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...

, relocated from

Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...

in Germany. A small group of Mi-8PPAs and Mi-8SMVs, AFM said, were probably formerly flown by the 292 OVP at Cochstedt in Germany. 440 OVP crewmembers and families, the magazine said, had been housed in newly built homes paid for by the German government.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Russian Air Force bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Smolensk Oblast {{Russia-airport-stub