Starokostiantyniv is an air base of the

Ukrainian Air Force The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...

located near Starokostiantyniv,

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast ( uk, Хмельни́цька о́бласть, translit=Khmelnytska oblast; also referred to as Khmelnychchyna — uk, Хмельни́ччина) is an oblast (province) of western Ukraine covering portions of the histo ...

, Ukraine. The base is home to the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade "Petro Franko" flying

Sukhoi Su-24 The Sukhoi Su-24 ( NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It wa ...

MR, and Aero L-39C Albatros aircraft.

History

In the early 1990s the airbase became home to the 7th Bomber Aviation Regiment flying

M aircraft. During the Cold War the 85th Fighter Aviation Regiment was also located at the base. On February 13, 1992, shortly after the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

collapse, the pilots of this airbase hijacked 6 Su-24 airplanes to Russia. To avoid interception by the air defense systems of Ukraine, they flew to Russia through Belarus. After the Regiment became a Ukrainian formation it was subordinate to the 35th Aviation Group.Вооруженные силы Украины
/ref> Later, the Regiment was reorganized into a Bomber and Reconnaissance Brigade. On 19 May 2004, 32 Orae was formed from the former 48 BrTA at

Kolomyia Kolomyia, formerly known as Kolomea ( ua, Коломия, Kolomyja, ; pl, Kołomyja; german: Kolomea; ro, Colomeea; yi, ), is a city located on the Prut River in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province), in western Ukraine. It serves as the admi ...

. In October 2005 the former 32 Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron at Kolminya joined the brigade as its reconnaissance aviation squadron. In 2005-2006 the Brigade became first Air Force formation to be composed of professional soldiers and not conscripts. In October 2018, exercise Clear Sky 2018 in collaboration with the

194th Fighter Squadron The 194th Fighter Squadron (194 FS) is a unit of the California Air National Guard's 144th Fighter Wing (144 FW) at Fresno Air National Guard Base, California. The 194th is equipped with the F-15 Eagle and like its parent wing, the 144th Griffin ...

144th Fighter Wing The 144th Fighter Wing (144 FW) is a unit of the California Air National Guard, stationed at Fresno Air National Guard Base, California. As part of the Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force, the wing is operationally gained by th ...

, California Air National Guard took place in Starokostiantyniv Air Base. During Clear Sky 2018, 120 sorties using tactical aircraft, 49 helicopter sorties and 20 cargo aircraft sorties were carried out. The sole

McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom ...

came from the

48th Fighter Wing The 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW) is part of the United States Air Force's Third Air Force, assigned to Headquarters Air Command Europe and United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE). It is based at RAF Lakenheath, England. The 48 FW is the only F ...

, RAF Lakenheath, UK, giving the Californian contingent a two-seat Eagle to provide backseat rides to their hosts. The Ukraine Air Force's two-seat aircraft were often used for familiarization sorties and exchange backseat rides during exercise. In the late afternoon on October 16, 2018, while carrying out one of these single-aircraft familiarization flights, a

Sukhoi Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet ...

UB1M (‘70 Blue’) crashed resulting in the death of the two pilots, Colonel Ivan Nikolayevich Petrenko, deputy commander of Eastern Air Command/Ukrainian Air Force, and Lt. Colonel Seth ‘Jethro’ Nehring of the California ANG/

Aircraft

The following aircraft are based at the air base: *

* Mikoyan MiG-29 * L-39 Albatros

References

Soviet Air Force bases Soviet Frontal Aviation Ukrainian airbases {{Khmelnytskyi-geo-stub