Kupino (air Base)
Kupino was initially observed in the late 1950s by Western Lockheed U-2 overflights and was originally a training airfield. The 849th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO, 14th Independent Air Defence Army, was based there from 1962. A 1966 satellite mission identified 30 Sukhoi Su-9 (NATO: Fishpot), confirming its role as an interceptor base, as well as first-generation interceptors that included 16 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (NATO: Fagot) and 9 Yakovlev Yak-25 (NATO: Flashlight). An air warning radar facility was identified 1 mile northwest of the runway.
The regiment continued to operate the Su-9 into the 1970s. The regiment replaced it in 1980 with the MiG-23P (NATO: Flogger-G).
The base was closed after the end of the Cold War and the aviation regiment was disbanded in 1998.
References
Citations
- ^ Lenskii & Tsybin 2014, p. 58.
- ^ CABLE TO DIRNSA FROM NPIC, September 1966, CREST: CIA-RDP78B04558A001400030063-5, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ PHASEOUT OF FISHPOT IN APVO STRANYY AIRFIELDS USSR, February 1981, CREST: CIA-RDP81T00380R000100980001-5, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.