Ämari Air Base is a

military airbase An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

in Harjumaa,

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

, located south of Lake Klooga and southwest of

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. The base was opened in 1945.

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 The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1945, the USSR Ministry of Defense established a naval reserve airfield of its

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

there, where the amphibious seaplanes of the 69th Long-Range Reconnaissance Regiment Catalina PBY-5A and the escort fighters Yak-9P began to be based. It became the main base for the units located in Ämari in 1952. In November 1967, the 88th Aviation Regiment of Fighter-Bombers was formed at the airfield, remaining until August 1984, after which it was relocated to Kanatovo airfield, at Kirovograd, Ukraine. From 1967 to 1973 the regiment flew the MiG-17, from 1970 to 1980 - the

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

PFM, and since 1980 - the

MiG-27 The Mikoyan MiG-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flogger-D/J) is a variable-sweep ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union and later licence-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics as t ...

D (K). In 1977, the 321st fighter-bomber aviation regiment was formed at the airfield. The regiment operated Su-7B aircraft. In 1987, the regiment was retrained on the

Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

and transferred to the 132nd Bomber Aviation Division. In 1994, the regiment was disbanded at the airfield. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

the base was a training facility for Soviet pilots to fly MiG-15, MiG-15bis, Mig-17 and

MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. " Cen ...

aircraft before deployment to

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

as "Military advisor pilots" and deployment to Arab countries during the wars against Israel. After 1975, the units replaced their obsolete MiGs for Sukhoi planes. Later, Ämari was home to 321 and/or 170 MShAP (321st and/or 170th Naval Shturmovik Aviation Regiment) flying Su-24 aircraft. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

continued to administer the base until it was handed over to Estonia in 1996. The Estonian Air Force Air Surveillance Wing was created in January 1998 and is located at the base. After Estonia's accession to the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO) in 2004, the base was made NATO interoperable. NATO aircraft have been stationed at the base since 2014.

Current use

Since April 2014, the base has hosted NATO Baltic Air Policing patrols. On 30 April 2014 this mission began with the arrival of four

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force () (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of the Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Armed Forces. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was made a separate service in 1950. I ...

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/Boeing F-22 Raptor is an American Twinjet, twin-engine, Jet engine, jet-powered, Night fighter, all-weather, supersonic Stealth aircraft, stealth fighter aircraft. As a product of the United States Air Force's Advanced Ta ...

fighters visited Ämari.Glorious photos of US F-22 fighter jets arriving in Russia's backyard
in Business Insider, published September 2015 From April 2023, RAF

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Syste ...

jets of IX Squadron were based at Ämari, as part of the Quick Reaction Force for Operation Azotize,

Nato The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's Baltic Air Policing mission, replacing the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

's Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 71 "Richthofen" squadron (Typhoon).Ukraine war: Nato watches Russian 'Zombies' in Estonia
Frank Gardner,

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

, 2023-05-23

References and notes

;References ;Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amari Air Base Airports in Estonia Estonian Air Force Military installations of Estonia Former Soviet military air bases in Estonia Military installations established in 1945 1945 establishments in Estonia Lääne-Harju Parish Buildings and structures in Harju County

History

Current use

See also

References and notes

External links