Vetrovoye Air Base
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Vetrovoye (also Sopochny Southwest) is a former Soviet Naval air base on
Iturup Iturup (; ), also historically known by #Names, other names, is an island in the Kuril Archipelago separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. The town of Kurilsk, administrative center of Kurilsky District, is located roughly mi ...
,
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located 66 km (41 mi) northeast of Burevestnik (Tennei before 1945). The airfield was built in the early or mid-1960s,Memoirs of Admiral N. N. Amelko, Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet
http://www.38brrzk.ru/public/amelko-vospominaniya/
Retrieved 2014-10-21.
following a directive by Defense Minister
Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (; ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He served as Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1967, during which he oversaw the strengthening of the Sov ...
that every American aircraft carrier between
Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housi ...
and the Kuril Ridge be photographed by Soviet Tupolev Tu-16R reconnaissance aircraft. At the time, Soviet Naval air assets for this region were based on
Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...
. The project was commissioned by Soviet Navy commander in chief
Sergey Gorshkov Sergey Georgyevich Gorshkov (; 26 February 1910 – 13 May 1988) was an admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union. Twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, he oversaw the expansion of the Soviet Navy into a global force during the Cold ...
and completed in the mid-1960s, at which point the 50th Aviation Cavalry Regiment was relocated from Sakhalin to Vetrovoye. At the end of the Cold War the airfield fell into disuse, and
Google Earth Google Earth is a web mapping, web and computer program created by Google that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satelli ...
high-resolution imagery shows the airfield to be in poor condition. The outline of the runways and tarmac is still visible from satellite imagery.


Notes

* http://www.weathergraphics.com/tim/russia/Vetrovoe.htm Soviet Naval Aviation bases Russian and Soviet Navy bases Airports built in the Soviet Union {{Russia-mil-stub