Vetrovoye Air Base

Vetrovoye (also Sopochny Southwest) is a former Soviet Naval air base on Iturup, Russia located 66 km (41 mi) northeast of Burevestnik (Tennei before 1945). The airfield was built in the early or mid-1960s,[1] following a directive by Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky that every American aircraft carrier between Midway Island and the Kuril Ridge be photographed by Soviet Tupolev Tu-16R reconnaissance aircraft. At the time, Soviet Naval air assets for this region were based on Sakhalin Island. The project was commissioned by Soviet Navy commander in chief Sergey Gorshkov and completed in the mid-1960s, at which point the 50th Aviation Cavalry Regiment was relocated from Sakhalin to Vetrovoye.

Vetrovoye
Vetrovoye, 1984 Landsat image.
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OperatorSoviet Navy 1960s-1990s
unknown
LocationIturup Island, Russia
Elevation AMSL59 ft / 18 m
Coordinates45°15′6″N 148°18′42″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18/36 9,842 3,000 Concrete

At the end of the Cold War the airfield fell into disuse, and Google Earth high-resolution imagery shows the airfield to be in poor condition. The outline of the runways and tarmac is still visible from satellite imagery.

Notes
  1. Memoirs of Admiral N. N. Amelko, Chief of Staff of the Pacific Fleet, http://www.38brrzk.ru/public/amelko-vospominaniya/. Retrieved 2014-10-21.


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