| Olenya Olenegorsk/Vysokiy  | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Оленегорск/Высокий | |||||||
| Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast in Russia | |||||||
 Satellite imagery of Olenya air base | |||||||
  Olenya Shown within Murmansk Oblast  Olenya Olenya (Russia) | |||||||
| Coordinates | 68°09′06″N 33°27′54″E / 68.15167°N 33.46500°E | ||||||
| Type | Air Base | ||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | Russian Aerospace Forces | ||||||
| Controlled by | Long-Range Aviation | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| In use | 1957 - present | ||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: XLMO | ||||||
| Elevation | 214 metres (702 ft) AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
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 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.
The base is home to the 40th Composite Aviation Regiment as part of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.[2]
Olenya was first detected by US intelligence in 1957, and was listed as having a runway length of 3350 m (11,000 ft).[3] 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.[4] An analysis in 1966 revealed 21 Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft.[5] 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.[6] 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 7 October 2022, satellite photos showed 7 Tu-160 and 4 Tu-95 at the air base.[7][8]
- ^ "Russian Military Forces: Interactive Map".
- ^ "Russian Air Force - Olenegorsk/Vysokiy (--)". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
- ^ Cable, October 22, 1957, CIA-RDP61S00750A000400020092-3, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, 1957.
- ^ STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS RELATED ACTIVITIES SUMMARY REPORT (SANITIZED), June 1, 1980, CREST: CIA-RDP80T01355A000100140001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ OLENEGORSK AIRFIELD, USSR (Sanitized), CIA-RDP78T05161A001300010042-9, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, June 1, 1966.
- ^ OLENEGORSK SAM SITE BO6-0 USSR, CIA-RDP78T05439A000500280082-0, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, August 1, 1965
- ^ "Faktisk.no: Satellittbilder viser 11 strategiske bombefly 20 mil fra Norge". Tu.no (in Norwegian). Teknisk Ukeblad. 12 October 2022. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022.
- ^ en.defence-ua.com: Russian Tu-95MS, Tu-160 Strategic Bombers are Currently Deployed in the Very Spot to Simultaneously Threaten Ukraine and NATO (Photo)