Olenya Olenegorsk/Vysokiy
Оленегорск/Высокий
Olenegorsk, Murmansk Oblast in Russia
Olenya Shown within Murmansk Oblast Show map of Murmansk Oblast Olenya Olenya (Russia) Show map of Russia
Coordinates	68°09′06″N 033°28′12″E / 68.15167°N 33.47000°E / 68.15167; 33.47000
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
Elevation	214 metres (702 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 18/36 3,500 metres (11,483 ft)  Concrete

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]}

Stationed units

Units stationed at the airfield during the Cold War included: ^[9]

• 924th Naval Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (924 MRAP), operating Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft
• 88th Separate Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (88 OMAPIB), operating Mikoyan MiG-27 aircraft, disbanded August 1995. ^[10]
• Operational Group Arctic (OGA), maintaining standby facilities for Tupolev Tu-95 bomber aircraft

In 2020, the Tu-22M3-based unit may now be the 40th Mixed Aviation Regiment ^[11] operating in both a maritime-attack and land-strike role.

Notable events

The Tu-95V aircraft carrying the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, took off from the airbase on October 30th, 1961.

After a training flight on 22 January 2019, a Tu-22M3 broke up upon making a hard landing in inclement weather at the airbase. Two of the four crew members died in the crash, and a third died on his way to the hospital. ^{[12] [13] [14]}

According to TASS, the first test launch of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (" dagger", a nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile) in the Arctic took place mid-November 2019 from the airbase. Reportedly, the launch was carried out by a MiG-31K, where the missile hit a ground target at Pemboy proving ground, reaching a speed of Mach 10. ^[15]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olenya Air Base.