Chuguyevka (air base)

Chuguyevka (Russian: Чугуевка) is a military air base of the Russian Air Force in Primorsky Krai, Russia. It is located in Chuguyevsky District, near the towns of Chuguyevka and Bulyga-Fadeyevo, 190 kilometers (120 mi) north-east of Vladivostok.

Chuguevka
(Sokolovka)
Chuguyevsky District, Primorsky Krai in Russia
Chuguyevka is located in Primorsky Krai
Chuguyevka
Chuguyevka
Shown within Primorsky Krai
Chuguyevka is located in Russia
Chuguyevka
Chuguyevka
Chuguyevka (Russia)
Coordinates44°5′0″N 133°52′6″E
TypeAir Base
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRussian Air Force
Site history
Built1955 (1955)
In use1955-present
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: XHIS
Elevation305 metres (1,001 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
18/36 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) Concrete

Chuguyevka Air Base's was built by the Soviet Union with the primary objective of scrambling aircraft against Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird flights over Vladivostok. The primary operator of the base was the 530th Fighter Aviation Regiment (530 IAP)[1] of the 11th Independent Air Defence Army (11 OA PVO) of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The base was also written in various references as Chuguevka, Sandagou, Sikharovka (erroneous), Sakharovka (erroneous), Sokolovka, and Bulyga-Fadeyevo. During the 1960s, Chuguyevka housed Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (NATO: Fresco) aircraft, and by 1972 a CIA analysis listed 43 MiG-17 Fresco interceptors and 10 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 UTI (NATO: Midget) trainers operating at this airfield.[2] By the 1970s as SR-71 flights became an issue of concern, the base was assigned 36 new Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25P (NATO: Foxbat) planes.

In September 1976, Chuguyevka Air Base rose to prominence when Viktor Belenko, a MiG-25 pilot stationed at the base, defected to the United States by flying to Hakodate, Japan. This incident was a major security breach for the Soviet Union, and one of the most publicized defections of the Cold War.

Since the 1990s, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Chuguyevka Air Base has been operated by the Russian Air Force, and MiG-25s were phased out as the primary aircraft and replaced with Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31s.

References
  1. "530th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  2. OAK SUPPLEMENT PART 8 KH-9 MISSION 1204 11 OCTOBER - 17 DECEMBER 1972 (TOP SECRET), CIA-RDP78T04752A000100010005-1, Central Intelligence Agency, January 1, 1973.


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