Panevėžys Air Base (also known as Pajuostis, and Tulpė) is an air base in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

located 6 km east of

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

. It is a transport base, with a very large ring taxiway 2 km in diameter. There are 32 large revetments. The main operator was 128th Guards Military Aviation Transport Regiment (128 Gv VTAP),

Military Transport Aviation Military Transport Aviation Command is part of the Russian Air Force. Military Transport Aviation Command (russian: Кома́ндование вое́нно-тра́нспортной авиа́ции (ВТА) — '' Komandovaniye voyenno-trans ...

, flying

Antonov An-22 The Antonov An-22 "Antei" (, ''An-22 Antej''; English ''Antaeus'') (NATO reporting name "Cock") is a heavy military transport aircraft designed by the Antonov Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Powered by four turboprop engines each driving a pa ...

and

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commer ...

aircraft. It received USSR's first Il-76M on August 27, 1977. The 128 Gv VTAP relocated in 1992 to

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

. Pajuostis airfield was operated as Lithuanian Air Force Second Air Base in 1993 - 2007. During 1993-2000 it hosted two squadrons - Fighters' Sqn. and Transport Sqn. During 2000-2007 it hosted Helicopters' Sqn. In 2007, the

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service ( ...

ceased using the airfield.

References

Soviet Air Force bases Lithuanian Air Force bases Military facilities of the Soviet Union in Lithuania Buildings and structures in Panevėžys County {{PanevėžysCounty-geo-stub