Olenya (air base)

Olenya (also Olenegorsk) has been a major Russian Navy reconnaissance base, located on the Kola Peninsula 92 km south of Murmansk. As of 2020 units at the base are subordinate to the Long Range Aviation branch of the Russian Aerospace Forces.[1]The base and its staff settlement (Vysoky, Murmansk Oblast), across Lake Permusozero from the city of Olenegorsk, are served by the Olenegorsk rail station (formerly Olenya station). Olenya has served as the headquarters for 5 MRAD (Naval Reconnaissance Air Division), and has hosted to two reconnaissance regiments. Its 3500-meter runway is the longest on the Kola Peninsula, making it a key facility for intercontinental flights across the North Atlantic basin.

Olenya
Summary
Airport typeMilitary Northern Fleet
OperatorLong Range Aviation of Russian Aerospace Forces
LocationOlenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast
Elevation AMSL702 ft / 214 m
Coordinates68°09′06″N 033°28′12″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18/36 11,483 3,500 Concrete

Olenya was first detected by US intelligence in 1957, and was listed as having a runway length of 3350 m (11,000 ft).[2] The base served as a forward deployment field for Long Range Aviation and was one of nine Arctic staging facilities for nuclear strikes on the United States.[3] An analysis in 1966 revealed 21 Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft.[4] Near the airfield is the Olenegorsk Radar Station ballistic missile early warning site, which entered service in 1971. A number of surface-to-air missile sites were operational near Olenya during the Cold War.[5] During the 1960s and 1970s, Olenya was used as a refueling stop on the Moscow to Havana Tupolev Tu-114 route.

As of 2006, Google Earth imagery showed nearly 40 Tupolev Tu-22M bombers on the airfield, but by 2018 only four of the aircraft appeared serviceable with another 27 aircraft awaiting disposal.

On 22 January 2019, a Tu-22M3 crash-landed after a training flight while attempting to make a landing at the Olenya air base. Two of the four crew members died in the crash, and a third died on his way to the hospital.[6]

According to TASS, the first launch of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ("dagger", a nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile ALBM) in the Arctic took place mid-November, 2019. Reportedly, the launch was carried out by a MiG-31K from Olenya air base. The missile hit a ground target at "Pemboy" proving ground, reaching the speed of Mach 10.[7]

Military operations

Units stationed at the airfield since the 1990s include:[8]

  • 924 MRAP (924th Naval Reconnaissance Air Regiment), operating Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft
  • 967 ODRAP (967th Long Range Air Reconnaissance Regiment), operating Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft
  • 88 OMAPIB (88th Separate Fighter Bomber Regiment), operating Mikoyan MiG-27 aircraft
  • OGA (Arctic Control Group), maintaining standby facilities for Tupolev Tu-95 bomber aircraft
  • 458th IAP, Mikoyan MiG-31BM

In 2020, the Tu-22M3-based unit may now be the 40th Mixed Aviation Regiment[9] operating in both a maritime-attack and land-strike role.

References
  1. https://www.gfsis.org/maps/russian-military-forces
  2. Cable, October 22, 1957, CIA-RDP61S00750A000400020092-3, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 1957.
  3. STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS RELATED ACTIVITIES SUMMARY REPORT (SANITIZED), June 1, 1980, CREST: CIA-RDP80T01355A000100140001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
  4. OLENEGORSK AIRFIELD, USSR (Sanitized), CIA-RDP78T05161A001300010042-9, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, June 1, 1966.
  5. OLENEGORSK SAM SITE BO6-0 USSR, CIA-RDP78T05439A000500280082-0, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, August 1, 1965
  6. "Supersonic strike bomber Tu-22M3 crash-lands in Russia's northwest". RT (TV network). 22 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  7. "Источники: испытания гиперзвуковой ракеты "Кинжал" впервые проведены в Арктике". TASS (in Russian). 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  8. "Aviatsiya VMF". Aviabaza KPOI.
  9. https://www.gfsis.org/maps/russian-military-forces
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