Fedotovo, located near railway station Kipelovo on a major railway to St. Petersburg, is a

Russian Naval Aviation The Russian Naval Aviation () is the air arm of the Russian Navy, a successor of Soviet Naval Aviation. The Russian Navy is divided into four fleets and one flotilla: Northern Fleet, Pacific Fleet (Russia), Pacific Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Black Sea ...

air base An airbase (stylised air base in American English), sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a mi ...

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 44 km west of

Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

. It is a large base for long-range aircraft, with 20 revetments in a remote area and large tarmac along parallel taxiway. Built in 1963, Fedotovo was an unnamed

military townlet In military of Russia and some other post-Soviet states (as well as in the former Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, ...

but took on the name of the first commander of 392 ODRAP, Lt. Col. A. S. Fedotov, who was killed in an aircraft crash in 1966. Fedotovo was a major source of

Tupolev Tu-95 The Tupolev Tu-95 (; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. Maiden flight, First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Long Range Aviation, Long-Range Avia ...

and

Tupolev Tu-142 The Tupolev Tu-142 (142; NATO reporting name: Bear F/J) is a Soviet/Russian maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft derived from the Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber. A specialised communications variant designated '' ...

flights overshadowing the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Atlantic Fleet. The base provided reconnaissance for the North Fleet Air Arm. The base is home to the 2nd Guards Aviation Group, 5th Independent Anti-submarine Aviation Squadron which uses the

MK/MR/MZ (ASCC: Bear). Units stationed at Kipelovo include: * 392 ODRAP (In Russian: 392 ОДРАП - Отдельный Дальне Разведывательный Авиационный Полк - Otdyel'nyy Dal'nye Razvedyvatel'nyy Aviatsionnyy Polk = 392nd Independent Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment) flying Tupolev Tu-95RTs (Bear-D). It was Fedotovo's first unit, beginning operations in 1963 and serving active duty with the Northern Fleet Air Arm and tasked with monitoring the activities of Western navies in the Arctic, participating in space program splashdowns, and conducting search-and-rescue activities. Its aircraft were deployed regularly to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

throughout the 1970s and to

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

later in the decade. A declassified

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

document written in 1977 took note of these Atlantic deployments, stating that while they had little impact on the United States, they "contribute to the threat to Western naval forces operating in the Northern Atlantic Ocean". * 76 PLAPDD (In Russian: 76 ПЛАПДД - Противо Лодочный Авиационный Полк Дальнего Действия - Protivo Lodochnyy Aviatsionnyy Polk Dal'nyego Deystviya = 76th Long Range Anti-Submarine Aviation Regiment) flying 25 Tupolev Tu-142M (Bear-F) aircraft beginning in March 1970. Though most of its operations ane exercises tracking the

fleet took place in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

and

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...

, in 1976 and 1977 part of the unit participated in exercises with the Soviet Pacific Fleet and was based temporarily at its sister base Khorol. In 1992 its personnel were deployed to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to train Indian pilots on their new Tu-142MK-E aircraft. * 135 PLAPDD (135th Long Range Anti-Submarine Aviation Regiment flying Tupolev Tu-142M and Tupolev Tu-142MR 35 PLAD (In Russian: 35 Противо Лодочная Авиационная Дивизия - Protivo Lodochnaya Aviatsionnaya Divisiya = 35th Long-Range Anti-Submarine Aviation Division) - this division grouped both regiments equipped with Tupolev Tu-142M (Bear-F) aircraft (76th and 135th PLAP DD) stationed there.

References

{{reflist

External links

Garnizon Fedotovo
- Russian website for veterans of the base
Fedotovo forum
- Russian forum for veterans of the base Soviet Naval Aviation bases Russian Naval Aviation Installations of the Russian Navy