Dombarovsky (air base) explained

Dombarovsky
Yasnaya
Ensign:Flag of the Strategic Missile Forces.png
Ensign Size:90px
Location:Yasny, Orenburg Oblast
Country:Russia
Type:Air Base
Pushpin Map:Russia Orenburg Oblast#Russia
Pushpin Map Caption:Shown within Orenburg Oblast
Pushpin Label:Dombarovsky
Ownership:Ministry of Defence
Operator:Strategic Rocket Forces
Used:1953-present
Icao:XWTD
Elevation:265m (869feet)
R1-Surface:Concrete
H1-Number:04/22
H1-Length:210m (690feet)
H1-Surface:Concrete

Dombarovsky (also given as Dombarovskiy and Tagilom) is a military airbase 5km (03miles) northwest of the village of Dombarovsky, near Yasny in Russia's Orenburg Oblast. Operated by the Soviet Air Defence Forces and later by the Russian Air Force, it hosted fighter interceptor squadrons and hosts an ICBM base (which has been adapted for commercial satellite launches) with a supporting helicopter base.

The site is divided into three sites:

Interceptor base

The facility featured three revetment compounds.

The 412th Fighter Aviation Regiment (412 IAP PVO) flew from the base from August 1949 with the La-11, MiG-15, and MiG-17 to 1962.[3] By the 1970s it was flying the Sukhoi Su-9 (Fishpot) aircraft. The regiment replaced it in 1978 with the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23M (Flogger-B).[4] From 1953-60 it reported to the 101st Fighter Aviation Division PVO, and then to the 19th Air Defence Corps of the 4th Independent Air Defence Army. It disbanded in 1993.

Other reporting of the 763rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (763 IAP) flying MiG-23 aircraft in 1991[5] appears to be incorrect. The 763rd Fighter Aviation Regiment was, it appears from more recent data, flying from Yugorsk-2.

ICBM base

Dombarovsky is also the home of the 13th Dombarovsky Red Banner Division, 31st Missile Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces. The base was built during the mid-60s along with the majority of the Soviet ICBM bases.

The first base commander was Major-General Dmitri Chaplygin.[6] Up to 10 units of Strategic Rocket Forces were based in the area, each with anywhere from 6 to 10 operational silos. At the peak of operations, Dombarovsky maintained a total of 64 silos on full alert. By 2002, according to the Russian press, the number had dropped to 52. The missiles deployed in the region were primarily the RS-20 type and its sub-variants.

On 22 December 2004, the Rocket Forces conducted from the base a test launch of an R-36M2 to the Kamchatka Peninsula.[7]

Commercial launches

With the conversion of the R-36M ICBM for use as a satellite launch vehicle, the Dnepr system, Dombarovsky has launched a number of commercial payloads. These civilian launches are operated by the Russian Air Force on behalf of the launcher's operator, Russian/Ukrainian consortium Kosmotras. Kosmotras calls the facility Yasny launch base, and has constructed additional facilities necessary for commercial satellite launch operations, including clean room integration facilities.

Launch Date (UTC) Vehicle Payload Launch pad Result Remarks / References
1 12 July 2006 Dombarovsky Success Bigelow Aerospace payload, in a 550 km, 64.5 degree inclination orbit
2 28 June 2007 Dombarovsky Success Bigelow Aerospace payload, orbit nearly identical to Genesis I
3 1 October 2008 Dombarovsky Success Launched for GISTDA
4 15 June 2010 Dombarovsky Success
5 17 August 2011 Dombarovsky Success
6 22 August 2013 Dombarovsky Success South Korea's satellite in LEO orbit[8]
7 21 November 2013 Dombarovsky Success 32 satellites, most of them cubesats[9]
8 19 June 2014 Dombarovsky Success 37 satellites[10]
9 6 November 2014 Dombarovsky Success Japanese satellites[11]
10 25 March 2015 Dombarovsky Success South Korea's satellite in LEO orbit[12]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 412th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO. Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. 4 December 2022.
  2. Web site: 13th Orenburgskaya Red Banner Missile Division. Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. 4 December 2022.
  3. Web site: 2024-02-27. 2024-07-08. 412th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO. https://web.archive.org/web/20240227232322/http://www.ww2.dk/new/air%20force/regiment/iap/412iap.htm.
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20170123204647/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81t00380r000100980001-5 PHASEOUT OF FISHPOT IN APVO STRANYY AIRFIELDS USSR
  5. Web site: Aviatsiya PVO . Aviabaza KPOI .
  6. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/dombarovskiy.html Dombarovskiy (Yasny) ICBM site
  7. Web site: Dombarovskiy . Astronautix.com . 2007-11-17 . 2008-05-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131216221311/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/domvskiy.htm . 2013-12-16 .
  8. Web site: Russian Dnepr rocket launches with Arirang-5 . William Graham . NASASpaceflight.com. 2013-08-22.
  9. Web site: Silo-launched Dnepr rocket delivers 32 satellites to space. 21 November 2013 . Stephen Clark . Spaceflight Now . 22 November 2013.
  10. Web site: Russian Dnepr rocket lofts record haul of 37 satellites. Stephen Clark . Spaceflight Now . 19 June 2014. 19 June 2014.
  11. Web site: Japanese satellites launched on Soviet-era missile. 6 November 2014 . Stephen Clark . Spaceflight Now . 7 November 2014.
  12. Web site: Russia's Dnepr rocket launches Kompsat-3A mission . William Graham and Chris Bergin . NASASpaceflight.com. 2015-03-25.