Step (air base)

Step Olovyannaya
Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai in Russia
Satellite imagery of Step air base
Step Shown within Zabaykalsky Krai Show map of Zabaykalsky Krai Step Step (Russia) Show map of Russia
Coordinates	51°1′0″N 115°26′0″E / 51.01667°N 115.43333°E / 51.01667; 115.43333
Type	Air Base
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Russian Aerospace Forces
Controlled by	11th Air and Air Defence Forces Army
Site history
Built	1948 (1948)
In use	1948 - present
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: XIAS
Runways Direction Length and surface 09/27 2,500 metres (8,202 ft) Concrete

Step (also Olovyannaya) is an air base in Chita, Russia located 14 km northwest of Yasnogorsk. It is a large air base with two revetment areas and numerous military fortifications. It is near an SS-11 missile field that was dismantled in the mid-1990s.

The 849th Assault Aviation Regiment, part of the 253rd Assault Aviation Division, was stationed at Step up until 1956.^[1]

Units stationed at Step/Olovyannaya include:

• 6th Aviation Regiment of Fighter-Bombers (6 APIB) flying Sukhoi Su-17 in the late 1980s; under 23rd Air Army, Transbaikal Military District.
• 58th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (58 APIB) flying Su-17M3 and L-29 aircraft in the late 1980s, and receiving MiG-27 in the early 1990s. It was under 23rd Air Army (Trans-Baikal).
• 266th Independent Shturmovik Aviation Regiment (266th Assault Aviation Regiment, 266 OShAP) flying Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft.^[2] Disbanded circa 2009.

The base appears to have been closed after a boiler room fire in December 2009. Thereafter, the base was reopened and the 266th Independent Shturmovik Aviation Regiment was reformed with at least two squadrons of Sukhoi-25s in 2019.^[3] The regiment by this time had been shifted into the Eastern Military District's 11th Air and Air Defence Forces Army.