Engels-2 (air base)
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Engels-2 (
The base is home to the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment with the Tu-160M and 184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment with the Tupolev Tu-95MS (NATO: Bear-H) of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.[2]
Aircraft from the 121st and 184th attacked Ukraine during the
History
In 1930, the construction of a military piloting school began 1.5 km from the town of
By 1936, the Engels military aviation school was one of the best flight schools in the country. Students flew Polikarpov U-2,
At the beginning of the Second World War the school had in service Polikarpov U-2,
In the early 1950s, the construction of the new "Engels-2" airport with a concrete
The first
The 3M bombers were part of Long Range Aviation until 1985, and then were destroyed in accordance with the agreement on the reduction of offensive weapons. The 3MS-II and 3MN-II, converted into tankers, were in service for much longer – up to the end of 1993 and before being replaced by the more advanced
The base was to have received the first production Tu-160 in 1987, but it went to
From 1999 to 2001 the base received eight Tu-160s from Ukraine paid for by gas price reductions. The last two arrived in February 2001.[10] The 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment was reformed at the base in September 2000, drawing on Tu-95MS aircraft transferred from Mozdok.[11] By 2007 the base had 14 Tu-160s, 20 Tu-95s and an unknown number of Tu-22Ms.
Construction of a new runway parallel to the existing one was completed in 2015 in conjunction with a supporting network of taxiways, communications, electrical and meteorological systems. The new runway will be able to handle all Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft.[12]
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 5 December 2022, during the
On 26 December 2022, at midnight, explosions were again reported at the air base. Air sirens were reported being heard at the base and surrounding areas. The local governor Roman Busargin reported no damage to "civilian infrastructure". At least two explosions were heard. These explosions have been reported by both the Ukrainian and Russian media. Three people from the “technical staff” have reportedly been killed. According to Russian television, "A Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down at low altitude while approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region," Ukrainian and Russian social media accounts report a number of bombers have been destroyed. However Reuters could not confirm these claims.[17]
On 29 December, the Russian regional governor, Roman Busargin, claimed that a Ukrainian drone was shot near the airbase with only slight damage to residential housing and no injuries. Reports on social confirm air raid sirens and explosions. [18]
On 3 February 2024, Oleg Stegachev, a Tu-95 crew commander at Engels air base, was shot. Ukrainian intelligence was blamed, whether he survived or not is unknown.[19]
On 5 April 2024, Ukraine launched 53 drones into western Russia, a number attacked Engels airbase. Russian sources claim that all drones and attacks were thwarted.[20][21] [22]
Aircraft
As of 2007[update], the base had:
- 14 Tu-160s (121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment)
- 20 Tu-95s (184th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment)
- Unknown number of Tu-22M-3s (6950th Aviation Base)
- 1 Ilyushin Il-62
The 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the 37th Air Army controlled operations at the base up until the Air Force reorganisation of 2009–10.[23] In 2015/16, the division was reformed within the Russian Aerospace Force's Long-Range Aviation branch and based at Engels.[24]
Museum
At the Engels airbase is the Long-Range Aviation Museum. This unique open-air museum was opened in September 2000. It was visited[when?] by more than 5,000 people in a year.[citation needed]
The museum displays:
- airplanes: Ilyushin Il-62, Myasishchev M-4-3MS-2, Antonov An-2, Antonov An-12, Antonov An-24, Tupolev Tu-95, Tupolev Tu-22, Tupolev Tu-134, Aero L-29 Delfín, Aero L-39 Albatros, Tupolev Tu-22M3;
- cruise missiles: Kh-55, Kh-22НА, Kh-20М, KSR-2UD;
- bombs: TC;
- historically valuable items: attributes of the Long-Range Aviation of Russia, commemorative photographs, fragments of rare aircraft.
The museum contains books for reviews, the records of which were left by the presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. A room was built where models of airplanes are presented, stands illustrating the history of long-range aviation, aircraft dashboards, and aircraft armament.[original research?]
The director of the museum is reserve major Sergei Alexandrovich Voronov.[citation needed]
References
- . April 2022. p. 16.
- ^ "Russian Air Force - Engels-2 (UWSG)". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- . December 2022. p. 30.
- ^ a b "Tambov Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots". ww2.dk. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ "Боевой путь полка".
- ^ (U) HEAVY BOMBER TARGETS, Central Intelligence Agency, 21 May 1958.
- ^ Butuwski 2004, 84.
- ^ Butuwski 2004
- ^ Yefim Gordon, "Blackjack base: lifting the curtain at Engels," Air Pictorial, 12/1994.
- ^ Butowski, Piotr. "Russia's Strategic Bomber Force". Combat Aircraft. 4 (6): 552–565.
- ^ Butowski 2004, 82.
- Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation(press release). 5 March 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "Ukraine destroys two Russian nuclear bombers in airport bombings". 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ "Explosions rock two Russian airbases far from Ukraine frontline". 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ "US commercial satellites surveyed Russia's Engels airstrip ahead of Kiev's strike attempt". tass.com. 5 December 2022.
- ^ "Ukraine Modified Soviet-Era Jet Drones To Hit Bomber Bases, Russia Claims (Updated)". thedrive.com. 5 December 2022.
- ^ "'Incident' at Russia's Engels air base investigated, no damage to civil infrastructure - local governor". Reuters. 26 December 2022.
- ^ "Russia says it shot down drone near Engels air base". Reuters. 29 December 2022.
- ^ Dinara Khalilova (3 February 2024). "Military intelligence reports assassination attempt on Russian military pilot". The Kyiv Independent.
- ^ Abbey Fenbert (5 April 2024). "Russian officials report massive drone attack on military airfield in Rostov Oblast". The Kyiv Independent.
- ^ "Ukraine fires more than 50 drones against Russia in one of its biggest air attacks of the war". Associated Press. 5 April 2024.
- ^ Kateryna Zakharchenko; Alisa Orlova (5 April 2024). "Kyiv Confirms Ukrainian Drones Destroyed 6 Russian Planes at Air Base, as Many as 3 Sites Blasted". The Kyiv Post.
- ^ Piotr Butuwski, 'Air Power Analysis: Russian Federation Part 2', International Air Power Review, Summer 2004, 80–81.
- ^ Nicholas Myers, The Russian Aerospace Force p. 98 https://wsb.edu.pl/container/Wydawnictwo/Security%20Forum/1-2018/8.pdf Archived 21 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Healey, John K. (January–February 2004). "Retired Warriors: 'Cold War' Bomber Legacy". ISSN 0143-5450.
External links / further reading
- GlobalSecurity.org, Engel's, accessed December 2012.
- "Report on Bomber Elimination at Engels AFB", FBIS Daily Report FBIS-SOV-95-136, 5 July 1995