Ozerne is an air base of the
Ukrainian Air Force
The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. Wh ...
located near
Ozerne,
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...
, Ukraine.
The base is home to the
39th Tactical Aviation Brigade flying
Sukhoi Su-27
The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation je ...
UB and
Aero L-39C Albatross aircraft.
Ozerne (, given in source material under the plethora of names: ''Zhytomyr Ozerna'', ''Ozernyy'', ''Ozernoye'', ''Oziernoye'', ''Ozernoe'', ''Ozernoye'', ''Ozyornoye'', ''Ozyornaya'', and in US intelligence as ''Zhitomir/Skomorokhi'').
History
The airbase was erected 1933 by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
and expanded 1942 by the German
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...
and was called ''Flughafen Hegewald''. Nearby were the headquarters of
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
and the base was surrounded by the settlements of the new German
Hegewald colony.
15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division was stationed at the base from 1945 to 1994. In 1965 Ozerne began receiving
Tupolev Tu-22
The Tupolev Tu-22 ( NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s.
The aircraft was a disappoint ...
(Blinder) aircraft. By 1967 it had 31 Tu-22 aircraft, and in 1968 it received Tu-22PD aircraft.
A Tu-22 crash-landed here in 1969 due to a stall during the landing flare; this incident was captured by a movie camera and used in the motion picture ''Tenderness for the Roaring Beast''.
[
In December 1989 the 251st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (]Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the admi ...
, Kyiv Oblast
Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...
) with Tu-16K were transferred under the control of the 43rd Center for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel of Long Range Aviation, located in the Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
. In 1990 the division comprised the:
* 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment ( Machulishchi, Minsk Oblast
Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...
, Belarusian SSR) with Tu-22K
* 203rd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment ( Baranavichi, Brest Oblast
Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cent ...
, Belarusian SSR) with Tu-22K
* 341st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (Ozerne) with Tu-22K
With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the two regiments in Belarus were transferred to other commands and the 251st Regiment rejoined the division.
Units stationed at Ozernoye include the:
* 894th Fighter Aviation Regiment
The 894th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Russian: 894-й истребительный авиационный полк), Military Unit Number 23257, was a fighter aviation regiment of the Soviet Air Forces in World War II, which then served with the Sov ...
. This regiment was part of 28th Air Defence Corps
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...
of the 8th Air Defence Army
The 8th Separate Army of the Air Defence Forces (Military Unit Number 25342) was a Soviet military formation established in 1960. Army headquarters was in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR.
The 8th air defense army was formed in March 1960 on the basis of the ...
(April 1986-January 1992). By 1994 under Ukraine resubordinated to Western Region Air Defence.
* 341st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (341 TBAP) flying Tu-22
The Tupolev Tu-22 (NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s.
The aircraft was a disappointme ...
M2 from 1965 until the 1990s[ and ]Tu-22
The Tupolev Tu-22 (NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s.
The aircraft was a disappointme ...
PD from 1968 until the 1990s, and the Tu-22
The Tupolev Tu-22 (NATO reporting name: Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s.
The aircraft was a disappointme ...
UD as recently as 1991.[ Under 15th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division from 1950 to 1992, (Holm) and at least up to 1994 (AFM March 1994).
Currently the airfield is home to about 15 advanced fighter aircraft visible in ]Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
high-resolution imagery. The north airfield appears to contain a huge army salvage yard.
Since 2018 the base is the home of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force
The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. Wh ...
.
A Sukhoi Su-27
The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation je ...
crash landed on December 15, 2018, while approaching the airfield during a training flight. The pilot, Maj. Oleksandr Fomenko, did not survive the crash.
During the opening hours of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
on 24 February 2022, a Su-27 and refueling vehicle were destroyed at apron
An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...
as a result of Russian missile strike.
References
{{Reflist
Soviet Long Range Aviation bases
Soviet Air Defence Force bases
Ukrainian airbases
Zhytomyr Raion