Varfolomeyevka Air Base

Varfolomeyevka is an air base located in Primorsky Krai, Russia. Owned by the Ministry of Defence and operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces, the base was built in 1960 and has been in continuous use since then. During the 1980s, it was one of 17 tactical reconnaissance aircraft bases in the Soviet Union and one of two such bases in the Far East region. The base is currently home to the 799th Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron, which operates Sukhoi Su-24MR (NATO: Fencer) aircraft. In the 1960s, the primary aircraft assigned were Ilyushin Il-28R (NATO: Beagle). By 1984, the aircraft had been modernized to include 20 to 30 Yakovlev Yak-28R (NATO: Brewer-D/E) and 2 to 16 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21R (NATO: Fishbed-H) reconnaissance jets. During the 1980s, the Soviet Union was in the process of replacing these older aircraft with Sukhoi Su-17MR (NATO: Fitter), though it is not specified if any were assigned to Varfolomeyevka. In the first decade of the 21st century, the airfield hosted regiments of the Russian 11th Air and Air Defence Forces Army. An unpaved airfield, Varfolomeyevka Southwest, was located 2 km north of the main base and was visible in 1960s Western intelligence documents and 1984 Landsat imagery.