Amderma Airport is a former

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

base in Arctic

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 ...

, near

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...

, located 4 km west of

Amderma Amderma (russian: Амдерма, lit. ''a walrus rookery'' in Nenets) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Zapolyarny District of Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the coast of Kara Sea, near the Vaygach Island, from Naryan-Mar, t ...

(Амдерма). It is a simple airfield built on a spit along the ocean, with some tarmac space. The facility's prime purpose was to defend the northern approaches to European Russia. Amderma's significance was driven home during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

years when on 1 June 1960 a

MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...

from Amderma shot down a Boeing RB-47H that was crossing Cape Kanin Nos. Since the 1960s, the airfield has been home to the 72 Gv IAP (72 Guards Interceptor Aviation Regiment) of the 10th OA PVO, which was operating at least 31

MiG-31 The Mikoyan MiG-31 (russian: link=no, Микоян МиГ-31; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a ...

aircraft during the 1991-94 period.

Tupolev Tu-128 The Tupolev Tu-28 (NATO reporting name Fiddler) was a long-range interceptor aircraft introduced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The official designation was Tu-128, but this designation was less commonly used in the West. It was the largest ...

and MiG-19 were stationed here in the 1960s.

Airlines and destinations

Nordavia Smartavia, formerly known as Nordavia (until March 2019), is a Russian low-cost airline with its head office in Arkhangelsk, Russia. It mainly operates scheduled domestic and regional services. Its main bases are Arkhangelsk Airport, Pulkovo Air ...

used to operate twice-monthly flights to

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

via

Naryan-Mar Naryan-Mar (russian: Нарья́н-Мар; Nenets: Няръянa марˮ, ''Njarjana marꜧ'', literally "red town") is a sea and river port town and the administrative center of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The town is situated on the r ...

using

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irku ...

aircraft.

References

Russian Air Force bases Soviet Air Force bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Nenets Autonomous Okrug {{Russia-airport-stub