Spassk-Dalny Airfield
History
In the late 1940s the airfield was populated by the 18th and 51st Brigades of the 27th Air Division.
In the early 1960s Sukhoi Su-7 and Su-9 were based here.
A 1966 satellite overflight spotted 21 Tu-16 Badger, 18 Su-7 Fitter, 21 Yak-28 Firebar, and 2 MiG-15 Fagot at this airfield. The CIA in 1969 identified the Firebar aircraft as the nearest potential threat to SR-71 operations over North Korea. The base's role diminished in the 1970s with the deployment of advanced MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft at Chuguyevka 60 miles (100 km) to the southeast.
In 1985 the CIA reported that Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23P (Flogger-G) and the training variant MiG-23U (Flogger-C) were crated at Spassk-Dalny and sent to Cam Ranh Base in Vietnam.
Google Earth imagery in 2005 showed the airfield was already abandoned and by the 2010s that the airfield was being torn up for reclamation of concrete.
References
- ^ AIR INFORMATION: DISPOSITION OF AIR FORCE UNITS ATTACHED TO THE SOVIET ARMY AND NAVY IN THE FAR EAST, CIA-RDP82-00457R001600820009-9, Central Intelligence Agency, July 13, 1948.
- ^ SURVIVABILITY OF THE U-2 OVER CHINA, CIA-RDP75B00285R000200060021-1, Central Intelligence Agency, May 23, 1962.
- ^ CABLE TO DIRNSA FROM NPIC, CIA-RDP78B04558A001600010017-6, Central Intelligence Agency, September 28, 1966.
- ^ OXCART RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTH KOREA, IA-RDP69B00041R001600030001-8, Central Intelligence Agency, 1969.
- ^ FLOGGER ASSEMBLY CAM RANH BAY AIRFIELD, VIETNAM (SANITIZED), CIA-RDP85T00060R000300370001-1, Central Intelligence Agency, January 2, 1985.