Lielvārde Air Base is a

military air base 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 ...

Rembate Parish Rembate parish is an administrative unit of Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along wit ...

Ogre Municipality Ogre Municipality () is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2002 by Merger (politics), merging Ogre, Latvia, Ogre town and Ogresgals Parish. In 2009 it absorbed Krape Parish, Ķeipene Parish, Laubere Parish, Madliena ...

in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. It is located north of

Lielvārde Lielvārde (; ), population 5885, is a town in Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava river, 52 km southeast of Riga. History The area was a contact zone between the Finnic Livonians and the Balt ...

and southeast of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

History

Lielvārde was built in 1969 for a Soviet attack aircraft regiment. In spring 1980, the 899th Fighter Aviation Regiment, part of the 1st Guards Stalingradsko-Berlinskaya Red Banner Fighter Aviation Division, 15th Air Army, moved from Riga-Rumbula in Latvia to Lielvārde. In July 1981 the regiment was redesignated as a Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment, and shifted to the 39th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Division, still within the Air Forces, but now within the Air Forces of the Baltic Military District, as they had become in 1981. The 899th Regiment was withdrawn to

Buturlinovka Buturlinovka () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, on the Ossered River, a tributary of the Don River (Russia), Don. It serves as the administrative center of Buturlinovsky District. Its population as ...

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the Russian Census (2021), 20 ...

, in June–July 1993. The base was transferred from Russia to Latvia in 1994. It now forms the core of operations for the

Latvian Air Force Latvian Air Force () is the aviation branch of the Military of Latvia, National Armed Forces. The first air force (AF) units were established in 1919 and re-established in 1992. It has no air combat capability, thus the defense of Latvian air spa ...

. Between 2007 and 2014 the air base underwent a major modernization, including the construction of a new administrative headquarters building opened in 2009, and a state-of-the-art

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

and

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

s. In September 2016, Latvia's Defence Minister

Raimonds Bergmanis Total Raimonds Bergmanis (born 25 July 1966) is a Latvian politician and former List of Ministers of Defence of Latvia, Minister of Defence. He is also a former Olympic weightlifting, Olympic weightlifter and Strongma ...

said infrastructure at the air base was "being constructed and modernized at a fast pace" in preparation for a Canadian-led multi-national NATO battalion expected to deploy to Latvia in the spring of 2017. In February 2022, 20 Boeing AH-64D/E Apaches from 1st Battalion (Attack Reconnaissance),

3rd Aviation Regiment The 3rd Aviation Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army Aviation Branch. It operates the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, and Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter. It has been associated with the 3 ...

12th Combat Aviation Brigade The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army. It was first organized as the 12th Aviation Group at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 June 1965. Vietnam Initially, "USARV formed an "Aviation Group (Provisi ...

United States Army Aviation Branch The United States Army Aviation Branch is the Army aviation, aviation branch of the United States Army and the administrative organization that is responsible for doctrine, manning and configuration for all army aviation units. This branch was ...

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

arrived for NATO exercises. According to ADS-B tracking data, beginning on April 13, 2022 the airport received multiple visits by three LM-100J aircraft (N67AU, N96MG, N71KM) belonging to the American company Pallas Aviation. By December 31, 2023 these flights numbered at least 77, almost all originating at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Due to runway work at

Ämari Air Base Ämari Air Base is a military airbase in Harjumaa, Estonia, located south of Lake Klooga and southwest of Tallinn. The base was opened in 1945. History Ämari Air Base was built between 1940–1952 under an agreement signed by the Estonia ...

, a detachment of five German Air Force Eurofighters arrived at Lielvārde february 26 for a four month long deployment to support the NATO enhanced Air Policing in the region. This is the first time Lielvārde AIr Base has been used for Baltic Air Policing

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Latvian airbases Former Soviet military air bases in Latvia Ogre Municipality Vidzeme {{Latvia-struct-stub

History

See also

References

External links