Panevėžys Air Base (also known as Pajuostis, and Tulpė) is an air base in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

located 6 km east of

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

. It is a transport base, with a very large ring taxiway 2 km in diameter. There are 32 large revetments. The main operator was 128th Guards Military Aviation Transport Regiment (128 Gv VTAP),

Military Transport Aviation The Military Transport Aviation Command ( — '' Komandovaniye voyenno-transportnoy aviatsii (VTA)'') was a major component of the former Soviet Air Forces, active from the Cold War period, through the dissolution of the Soviet Union, to 1998–1 ...

, flying Antonov An-22 and

Il-76 The Ilyushin Il-76 (; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. ...

aircraft. It received USSR's first Il-76M on August 27, 1977. The 128 Gv VTAP relocated in 1992 to

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

. Pajuostis airfield was operated as Lithuanian Air Force Second Air Base in 1993 - 2007. During 1993-2000 it hosted two squadrons - Fighters' Sqn. and Transport Sqn. During 2000-2007 it hosted Helicopters' Sqn. In 2007, the

Lithuanian Armed Forces The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Navy, the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force. In wartime, the Li ...

ceased using the airfield.

References

Former Soviet military air bases in Lithuania Lithuanian Air Force bases Buildings and structures in Panevėžys County {{PanevėžysCounty-geo-stub