Kant Air Base ( ''Aviabaza Kant'') is a military

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 ...

Ysyk-Ata District Ysyk-Ata District (, ) is one of the eight Districts of Kyrgyzstan, districts of the Chüy Region in northern Kyrgyzstan with an area of . The district's resident population was 154,340 in 2021. Since 1998, when the former Kant District was merged ...

Chüy Region Chüy is the northernmost Regions of Kyrgyzstan, region of Kyrgyzstan, surrounding the country's national capital of Bishkek. It is bounded on the north by Kazakhstan, and clockwise, Issyk-Kul Region, Naryn Region, Jalal-Abad Region, and Talas Re ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. It is located just south of

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

, around 20 km east of

Bishkek Bishkek, formerly known as Pishpek (until 1926), and then Frunze (1926–1991), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan ...

and is home to the Russian Aerospace Forces' 999th Air Base.

History

The history of the airfield in Kant goes back to

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, when the Odessa Military Aviation School of Pilots was evacuated to Kyrgyzstan. The School had been formed by an order of the People's Commissar of Defence of the USSR dated February 23, 1941. After

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, the German invasion of the Soviet Union beginning on June 22, 1941, the school stopped training sessions, and its cadets began to perform combat missions on I-15 aircraft to cover Odessa from air strikes by the Nazi German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

. In July 1941, the aviation school moved to

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

, and then to the suburbs of the city Frunze, where military pilots were trained for the front. During the war years, 1507 pilots were trained at the aviation school, 7 of which were awarded the title

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

. (CC BY 4.0). Subsequently, in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, the school in Kyrgyzstan was renamed the Frunze Military Aviation School for Pilots of the USSR Air Force. A training aviation regiment was formed in 1951 or 1952. From 1956, the school also trained foreign pilots. Among its graduates were

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian former president

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

and the late

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n president

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

, as well as

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 ...

's Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh, and South Yemen Brigadier Pilot Shakib Khobani. In 1959, the regiment was transferred to the renamed 5th Central Course for Preparation and Improvement of Aviation Personnel. In 1992, following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, control of the air base was transferred to Kyrgyzstan.

Present-day Russian base

In accordance with a bilateral agreement between Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed on 22 September 2003, the air base hosts

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

units. The official opening took place on 23 October 2003, making the facility the first new air base Russia opened abroad since 1991. The unit stationed there has been described as

' 5th Air and Air Defence Forces Army's 999th Air Base. In December 2012, Kyrgyzstan agreed to lease the base to Russia for fifteen years (with an option for an automatic extension for an additional five years) after the Russian government agreed to reduce Kyrgyz debt by $500 million. As of February 2023, the Russian forces at the airbase is equipped with Su-25SM ground-support aircraft, Mi-8MTV5-1 helicopters,

Orlan-10 The Orlan-10 () is a reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Special Technology Center (STC) in Saint Petersburg for the Russian Armed Forces. The Orlan-10 features a composite fuselage that reduces its radar signature. Dr ...

UAVs, as well as a unit of the military police and military traffic police.The crews of Mi-8 helicopters of the Russian military base thwarted the offensive of a mock enemy during an exercise in Kyrgyzstan
Russian Ministry of Defence.

References

External links

*
Kant Air Base on the Russian Ministry of Defence site

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130114052027/http://www.kyrgyz.mid.ru/kant.html Справка о базе на сайте посольства России в Киргизии
Личному составу российской авиабазы «Кант» (Киргизия) придан статус неприкосновенности

Кыргызская авиабаза «Кант» будет аэродром «подскока» для стратегической авиации России

Соглашение между Российской Федерацией и Киргизской Республикой о статусе и условиях пребывания объединенной российской военной базы на территории Киргизской Республики

{{authority control Airports in Kyrgyzstan Russian Air Force bases Military air training installations of the Soviet Union Chüy Region Military installations of Russia in other countries Military airbases established in 1941

History

Present-day Russian base

See also

References

External links