Rzhev () (also given as Ryev, Rzev, Rjzev) is an air base of the

Russian Air Force The Russian Air Force () is a branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces, the latter being formed on 1 August 2015 with the merging of the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the reb ...

Tver Oblast Tver Oblast (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. From 1935 to 1990, it was known as Kalinin Oblast (). Population: Tver Oblast is a region of lakes, such as Seliger and Brosno. Much o ...

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 5 km east of

Rzhev Rzhev ( rus, Ржев, p=ˈrʐɛf) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Staritsa and from Tver, on the highway and railway connecting Moscow and Riga. It is the uppermost town situated on the Volga River. Population: Hist ...

. It was a Tupolev Tu-128 (ASCC: Fiddler) depot airfield during 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 ...

, operated by BKhAT (Aviation Equipment Storage Base). The airfield also had an interceptor role with the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (23 IAP PVO) between 1950 and 1980. The 23 IAP initially operated the

Sukhoi Su-9 The Sukhoi Su-9 (Air Standardization Coordinating Committee, ASCC reporting name: Fishpot) is a single-engine, all-weather, missile-armed interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. Development The Su-9 emerged from aerodynamic studie ...

(ASCC: Fishpot) in the 1960s. It was named for "Fifty Years of the Soviet Union" in 1972. The regiment ceased using the Su-9 in 1979 or 1980PHASEOUT OF FISHPOT IN APVO STRANYY AIRFIELDS USSR
February 1981, CREST: CIA-RDP81T00380R000100980001-5, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC. and was then disbanded in 1980. (It should not be confused with a 23rd IAP that was formed in 2000 by the merging of 60 and 404 IAPs later at Dzyomgi Airport in the Russian Far East.) The base was also used by the 445th Fighter Aviation Regiment between 1951 and 1961 with the

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-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 was license-built in China as the Shenyang J-5 and ...

(ASCC: Fresco). In 1966 the 1082nd Aviation Repair Base became the 514th Aviation Repair Plant. When the airfield was imaged in 1981, US analysts observed 102 Su-9 aircraft in storage and noted the south dispersal area had become a regional storage facility for the type. The storage base, seemingly V/Ch 03532, was reportedly disbanded in 1980 Other similar designations included the 4044 Aviation Base and the 4884 BRS (Base for Reserve Aircraft). The base is still home to the 514th Aviation Repair Plant.

References

Russian Air Force bases Soviet Air Defence Force bases Airports built in the Soviet Union Airports in Tver Oblast {{Russia-mil-stub