Starokostiantyniv 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. W ...

located near

Starokostiantyniv Starokostiantyniv ( uk, Старокостянтинів; pl, Starokonstantynów, or ''Konstantynów''; yi, אלט-קאָנסטאַנטין ''Alt Konstantin'') is a city in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. I ...

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( uk, Хмельни́цька о́бласть, translit=Khmelnytska oblast; also referred to as Khmelnychchyna — uk, Хмельни́ччина) is an oblast (province) of western Ukraine covering portions of the histo ...

, Ukraine. The base is home to the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade "Petro Franko" flying

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 ( NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It wa ...

MR, and Aero L-39C Albatros aircraft.

History

In the early 1990s the airbase became home to the 7th Bomber Aviation Regiment flying

M aircraft. During the Cold War the 85th Fighter Aviation Regiment was also located at the base. On February 13, 1992, shortly after the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

collapse, the pilots of this airbase hijacked 6 Su-24 airplanes to Russia. To avoid interception by the air defense systems of Ukraine, they flew to Russia through Belarus. After the Regiment became a Ukrainian formation it was subordinate to the 35th Aviation Group.Вооруженные силы Украины
/ref> Later, the Regiment was reorganized into a Bomber and Reconnaissance Brigade. On 19 May 2004, 32 Orae was formed from the former 48 BrTA at

Kolomyia Kolomyia, formerly known as Kolomea ( ua, Коломия, Kolomyja, ; pl, Kołomyja; german: Kolomea; ro, Colomeea; yi, ), is a city located on the Prut River in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province), in western Ukraine. It serves as the admi ...

. In October 2005 the former 32 Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron at Kolminya joined the brigade as its reconnaissance aviation squadron. In 2005-2006 the Brigade became first Air Force formation to be composed of professional soldiers and not conscripts. In October 2018, exercise Clear Sky 2018 in collaboration with the 194th Fighter Squadron, 144th Fighter Wing,

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

took place in Starokostiantyniv Air Base. During Clear Sky 2018, 120 sorties using tactical aircraft, 49 helicopter sorties and 20 cargo aircraft sorties were carried out. The sole McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle came from the 48th Fighter Wing,

RAF Lakenheath Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF stati ...

, UK, giving the Californian contingent a two-seat Eagle to provide backseat rides to their hosts. The Ukraine Air Force's two-seat aircraft were often used for familiarization sorties and exchange backseat rides during exercise. In the late afternoon on October 16, 2018, while carrying out one of these single-aircraft familiarization flights, 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 jet ...

UB1M (‘70 Blue’) crashed resulting in the death of the two pilots, Colonel Ivan Nikolayevich Petrenko, deputy commander of Eastern Air Command/Ukrainian Air Force, and Lt. Colonel Seth ‘Jethro’ Nehring of the California ANG/ 144th Fighter Wing.

Aircraft

The following aircraft are based at the air base: *

Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG- ...

L-39 Albatros The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. It is the most widely used jet trainer in the world; in addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also flo ...

References

Soviet Air Force bases Soviet Frontal Aviation Ukrainian airbases {{Khmelnytskyi-geo-stub