Ämari Air Base is a

military airbase An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

Harjumaa Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sout ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

located south of Lake Klooga and southwest of

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

History

A-10 from Michigan Air National Guard lands in Estonia

Ämari Air Base was built between 1940–1952 under an agreement signed by the Estonian SSR and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. In 1945, the USSR Ministry of Defense established a naval reserve airfield of its Baltic Fleet there, where the amphibious seaplanes of the 69th Long-Range Reconnaissance Regiment Catalina PBY-5A and the escort fighter jets Yak-9P began to be based. It became the main airport of the units located in Ämari in 1952. At Vietnum War Ämari Air Base was a training base of Soviet pilot to fly MiG-15, MiG-15bis, Mig-17 and MiG-19 before deplayment in Vietnum as a advisor pilots and deployment to Arab countries for war against Israel. After 1975 the base get replaced obsolit MiGs for Su assalt plains. Later, Ämari was home to 321 and/or 170 MShAP (321st and/or 170th Naval Shturmovik Aviation Regiment) flying Sukhoi Su-24 aircraft. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian Air Force continued to administer Ämari Air Base until it was handed over to Estonia in 1994. The

Estonian Air Force The Estonian Air Force ( et, Õhuvägi, ) is the aviation branch of the Estonian Defence Forces. The air force traces its history to 1918, and was re-established in its current form in 1991. As of 2016, the Estonian Air Force has a strength of ...

Air Surveillance Wing was created on 1 January 1998 and is located at the Ämari Air Base. After Estonia's accession to NATO in 2004, Ämari Air Base was made NATO interoperable. NATO aircraft have been stationed at the base since 2014.

Current use

Since April 2014, Ämari Air Base has hosted NATO

Baltic Air Policing The Baltic air-policing mission is a NATO air defence Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) in order to guard the airspace above the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Mission Within the Alliance, preserving airspace integrity is con ...

patrols. On 30 April 2014 this mission began with the arrival of four Danish F-16s. During 2015 it was announced that the aerial assets from the American Operation Atlantic Resolve would be based there. In September 2015,

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

fighters visited Ämari.Glorious photos of US F-22 fighter jets arriving in Russia's backyard
in Business Insider, published September 2015

References and notes

;References ;Notes

External links

Airports in Estonia Estonian Air Force Military installations of Estonia Soviet Naval Aviation bases 1940s establishments in Estonia Lääne-Harju Parish Buildings and structures in Harju County {{Europe-airport-stub

History

Current use

See also

References and notes

External links