Kirovske (air base) explained

Kirovske / Kirovs'ke / Kirovskoye
Goncharovka (pre 1953)
Ensign:Flag of the Russian Aerospace Forces.svg
Ensign Size:90px
Location:Kirovske, Crimea
Country:Ukraine
Type:Air Base
Pushpin Map:Crimea#Ukraine
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Crimea##Location within Ukraine
Pushpin Label:Kirovske
Operator:Russian Aerospace Forces
Used:1950 - present
Icao:URFJ
Elevation:53m (174feet)
R1-Number:10/28
R1-Length:3000m (10,000feet)
R1-Surface:Concrete

Kirovske (in US intelligence, Kirovskoye)[1] (Russian: Кировское; Ukrainian: Кіровське ) is a Russian Aerospace Forces base located in Kirovske Raion, near the town of Kirovske, Crimea, Ukraine.

The base is home to a detachment of the 929th State Flight Test Centre named for V. P. Chkalov.[2]

Kirovske was the primary anti-submarine warfare (ASW) test and development center for Soviet Naval Aviation, and it worked closely with the flight test center at Akhtubinsk.[3]

An interceptor regiment, the 136 IAP (136th Fighter Aviation Regiment) at Kirovske operated the Sukhoi Su-9 (ASCC: Fishpot) in the 1960s and 1970s. These were last seen at Kirovske in August 1979 before the runway was closed for expansion in the early 1980s.[4] Other aircraft such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (ASCC: Fresco) and Sukhoi Su-7 (ASCC: Fitter) were known to be present at Kirovske in the 1970s.[5]

The base was used by the 326th Fighter Aviation Regiment between 1950 and 1979.[6]

Notes and References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20170123124835/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp99t01396r000300060001-4 MISSION 1034 22 JUNE - 1 JULY 1966 PART II
  2. Web site: Russian Air Force - Kirovs'ke (--). Scramble.nl. 5 January 2023.
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20170121234434/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp82t00709r000101760001-2 NEW BEAR VARIANT AKHTUBINSK FLIGHT TEST CENTER, USSR
  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. https://web.archive.org/web/20170123011819/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp78t04752a001600010010-9 OAK SUPPLEMENT PART 20 KH-9 MISSION 1207 11 NOVEMBER 1973 - 20 FEBRUARY 1974
  6. Web site: 326th Kerchenskiy twice Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO. Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. 5 January 2023.