Vatega (air base)
Vatega (Onega Andozero) Ватега авиабазы | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Operator | Russian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Onega | ||||||||||
| Built | Late 1970s | ||||||||||
| In use | No | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 285 ft / 87 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 63°55′24″N 038°24′42″E / 63.92333°N 38.41167°E | ||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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Vatega (also Onega Andozero (US)), Ватега авиабазы, is an abandoned air base in Russia located 16 km east of the port town of Onega, Arkhangelsk Oblast and 127 km southwest of Arkhangelsk. It was designed as a highly modernized, large airfield for the Soviet Union's heavy bomber fleet.
The earliest available Western intelligence documents identified the airfield in 1977 as under construction.[1] Some Russian sources claim the airfield was intended to serve as an alternate landing site for the Soviet 'Buran' space shuttle. Construction ceased in the mid-1980s due to the slowdown in the Russian economy, and the military abandoned the property in 1995.[2]
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Vatega was extensively dismantled and sold for scrap. Around 2004 some of the guilty parties were reportedly convicted and either sent to prison or forced to pay heavy fines.[3]
References
- ^ VOL. 1 OF 4 VOLUMES ANNUAL INDEX TO PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLOITATION PRODUCTS JANUARY-DECEMBER 1977, March 1, 1978, CIA-RDP78B07179A000200010001-6, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
- ^ Vatega Village, in Russian, accessed 2019-01-09.
- ^ Onega Andozero -- Abandoned, Forgotten & Little Known Airfields in Europe, via archive.org
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