Alakurtti Air Base is a former naval air base in

Murmansk Oblast Murmansk Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia, located in the northwestern part of the country, with a total land area of . Its only internal border is the Republic of Karelia to the south, and it is bor ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

located 3 km northwest of Alakurtti. It was serviced by the 4th Naval Bomber Regiment (

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, night fighter, all-weather tactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, Twinjet, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for it ...

) and 485 OVP (485th Independent Helicopter Regiment) flying (

Mil Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...

and

Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union, Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the ...

History

World War II

The construction of the airfield in the then Finnish village of Alakurtti began shortly before the start of World War II. After the Winter War ended on 13 March 1940, the village was ceded to the Soviet Union. The airfield and village were captured by the 6th Infantry Division of the Finnish Army and the 169th Mountain Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht in August 1941. Before the Soviet recapture on September 14, 1944, the military airfield played an important role for Germany: it carried out raids on

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha () is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, north of the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ( 2002 Census); Etymology According to the most common ...

and the

Kirov Railway Railway between Murmansk on the Arctic Ocean and Saint Petersburg on the broad gauge Russia">Baltic Sea The Kirov Railway (; until 1935 ''Murman Railway'') is a Russian gauge">broad gauge Russian railway network that links the Murman Coast ...

. After unsuccessful attempts of the German troops to capture Murmansk, the fighting moved to the south and the airfield received German airplanes. Throughout the war, the airfield was subjected to repeated bombardments by Soviet pilots. The 195th IAP, the 101st NKVD Stand, the 668th NBAP, the 828th SHAP and others participated in the battles for the airfield. On March 10, 1943, the 828th Ground Attack Aviation Svirsky Order of Suvorov Regiment, with 8

Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian language, Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a Ground attack aircraft, ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the World War II, Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (C ...

aircraft under the command of Lieutenant Nikolai Kukushkin, made an attack on the airbase. More than 40 aircraft were destroyed during the attack, a fuel depot was blown up, and many airfield buildings were burned. After Finland ceeded the Area again 1944, the

415th Fighter Aviation Regiment 415th may refer to: * 415th Bombardment Group, inactive United States Air Force unit * 415th Flight Test Flight (415 FLTF), squadron of the United States Air Force Reserves * 415th Tactical Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit S ...

was based at the airfield, performing tasks during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation.

Cold War

In the 1950s Alakurtti was being monitored by the US intelligence community for development into a strategic bomber base capable of reaching the US, but Soviet Long Range Aviation began developing nearby

Olenya Olenya (also Olenegorsk) is a major Russian Navy reconnaissance base, located on the Kola Peninsula 92 km south of Murmansk. As of 2020, units at the base were subordinate to the Long-Range Aviation branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Th ...

air base instead. The airfield then took on an air defense role in the 1950s, hosting a fighter division of the 22nd Air Army, subordinate to an air defense center at Severomorsk. As Alakurtti is only 50 km (30 miles) from the border with Finland, a significant Army presence has existed since the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

era. The 85th Separate Helicopter Squadron of the 6th Army Air Force and Air Defense operated

Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. Russian production of t ...

and Mi-24 helicopters. In the 1980s Alakurtti hosted a Mi-8PP (Hip-K) helicopter regiment specializing in electronic jamming. A tank/assault gun firing range is also located about 5 km (3 miles) north of the airfield. The helicopter squadron was disbanded in December 2009 and its assets moved to

Monchegorsk Monchegorsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula, south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 52,242 (Russian Census (2002), 2002 Census); ...

. The former camp of the

54th Motor Rifle Division 54 may refer to: * 54 (number) * one of the years 54 BC, AD 54, 1954, 2054 * ''54'' (novel), a 2002 novel by Wu Ming * Studio 54, a New York City nightclub from 1977 until 1981 * ''54'' (film), a 1998 American drama film about the club * ''54'' ...

was reoccupied by a new arctic motor rifle brigade from January 2015. Reports indicate that Russia reopened the military base as a garrison of 3,000 radioelectronics experts. In 2015, ITAR-TASS reported (through an English language Finnish news service) that motorized infantry brigade is stationed at this base. Russian newspapers reported that brigades at this base would eventually grow to 7,000 soldiers.Accessed 16 April, 2022 https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/russia_moves_first_troops_to_arctic_base_near_finnish_border/7736771

References

{{Reflist Installations of the Russian Navy Soviet Naval Aviation bases