Afrikanda is a military air base in

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast (russian: Му́рманская о́бласть, p=ˈmurmənskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, r=Murmanskaya oblast, ''Murmanskaya oblast''; Kildin Sami: Мурман е̄ммьне, ''Murman jemm'ne'') is a federal subject (an oblast) o ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. It is located just north of the village of the same name. Though it is built for fighter operations with 30

revetments A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water a ...

, it has largely served the

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are ...

role. Western intelligence services reported jet fighters operating from Afrikanda as early as 1953. From 1953, the 431st Fighter Aviation Regiment (431 IAP) was stationed at the base, which became the 431 Regiment PVO in 1960. From 1960 the regiment was part of the

21st Air Defence Corps First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

. It served through the whole Cold War; in 1978 a Sukhoi Su-15 was launched from Afrikanda to intercept

Korean Air Flight 902 Korean Air Lines Flight 902 (KAL 902) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage. On 20 April 1978, the Soviet air defense shot down the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 707, near Murmansk, Soviet Union, after ...

, a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December ...

which was later forcefully landed; and in 1990, according to

Conventional Forces in Europe The original Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was negotiated and concluded during the last years of the Cold War and established comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe (from the Atla ...

data exchanges, it had 39 Sukhoi Su-15TM interceptor aircraft. In September 1993 it was merged with the 641 Guards IAP and became the

470th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment The 470th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (470 GIAP) was a regiment of the Russian Air Force. It drew much of its traditions and history from the previous 169th Fighter Aviation Regiment and the 63rd Guards Vilensky Order of Kutuzov Fighter Aviat ...

. The regiment also operated a number of

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 j ...

aircraft. The 470 Guards IAP disbanded on 30 November 2000; it is possible that Afrikanda may have closed.

History

During World War II

On June 26, 1941, the first known air victory was won over the airfield 147th Fighter Aviation Regiment in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(the regiment was based at the airfield

Murmashi Murmashi (russian: Мурмаши́, no, Murmasji) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Kolsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula on the lower Tuloma River, southwest of Murmansk. Population: It w ...

senior lieutenant Senior lieutenant is a military grade between a lieutenant and a captain, often used by countries from the former Eastern Bloc. It is comparable to first lieutenant. Finland ( sv, premiärlöjtnant) is a Finnish military rank above ( sv, lö ...

L.I. Ivanov, piloting I-15bis, shot down a German bomber in an air battle near the Afrikanod airfield,

He-111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a " wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after t ...

.All of Stalin 59, 125 In the future, the airfield was used by combat aircraft

Karelian Front The Karelian Front russian: Карельский фронт) was a front (a formation of Army Group size) of the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II, and operated in Karelia. Wartime The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when ...

. From June 1 to July 1, 1942, the 835th Fighter Aviation Regiment was based at the airfield on

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

(“Hurricane”) fighters. Also at the aerodrome from 1941 to November 10, 1943,

609th Fighter Aviation Regiment 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

was based on the Hurricane and

LaGG-3 The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (Лавочкин-Горбунов-Гудков ЛаГГ-3) was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and was one of the most modern aircraft available to the So ...

fighter planes. In 1943, the

137th short-range aviation regiment 137th may refer to: *137th (Calgary) Battalion, CEF, unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War *137th Air Reconnaissance Regiment, air reconnaissance and guidance regiment, part of the SFR Yugoslav Air Force *137th Special ...

was based at the airfield from 258th mixed aviation division on airplanes Boston-3, for exemplary performance of command assignments renamed 114th Guards Middle Bomb Aviation Regiment. In March 1944, units of the operational group

8th long-range air 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 t ...

were based on the airfield: operational group 36th long-range aviation division actions and

455th long-range air regiment 455th may refer to: *455th Air Expeditionary Wing, provisional United States Air Force USAFCENT unit *455th Flying Training Squadron, United States Air Force unit of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) See also *455 (number) *455 (disamb ...

48th long-range aviation division on aircraft IL-4. From April to June 1944, the 668th Assault Aviation Regiment was based at

IL-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

at the airfield.

Post-war period

From August 1945 to July 1946, the 668th cap continued to be based on IL-2 aircraft at the aerodrome. In the period from October 1953 to September 1993, 431st Fighter Aviation Regiment was based on the airfield, Armaments

MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one o ...

MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 ...

MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was ...

and Su-15TM. From 1954 to 1960, a bomber aviation regiment (military unit No. 32812), one of the regiments

184th bomber aviation division 184th may refer to: *184th (2nd South Midland) Brigade, formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army *184th AAA Battalion (United States), attached to the 49th AAA Brigade *184th Battalion, CEF, unit in the Canadian Expeditionary Force du ...

was also based at this airfield 22nd Air Army. The regiment was armed with a front-line jet bomber IL-28. In 1993 from the airfield Rogachevo was translated 641st Guards Vilna Order Kutuzov Fighter Aviation Regiment. Both regiments were merged into one, which in September 1993 received the name of the 470th Guards Vilna Order of Kutuzov Fighter Aviation Regiment. In service with the 470th Guards. Iap consisted fighter

. September 1, 2001 and the 470th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was disbanded.470th Guards Vilensky Order of Kutuzov Fighter Aviation Regiment
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afrikanda Air Base Russian Air Force bases Soviet Air Force bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases