Savasleyka (air base)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Savasleyka (Russian: Саваслейка) is an air base in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is located near the village of Savasleyka in Kulebaksky District, between the towns of Vyksa (which is 16 km southwest of the airfield), Kulebaki (some 10 km to the east of the base) and Navashino (some 10 km to the northwest of the airfield).
Savasleyka Murom | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vyksa, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in Russia | |||||||
Coordinates | 55°26′24″N 042°18′36″E | ||||||
Type | Air Base | ||||||
Site information | |||||||
Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
Operator | Russian Aerospace Forces | ||||||
Site history | |||||||
Built | 1953 (1953) | ||||||
In use | 1953 - present | ||||||
Airfield information | |||||||
Elevation | 102 metres (335 ft) AMSL | ||||||
|
The name of the base is also often transcribed into English as Savasleika; sometimes it is misspelled as Savastleyka or Savostleyka. The base has also been referred to as Murom, after the city of Murom that is some 25 km northwest, in the neighboring Vladimir Oblast.
The base is home to the 3958th Aviation Base with the Mikoyan MiG-31 (NATO: Foxhound) as part of the 4th Centre for Combat Application and Crew Training.[1]
The history of the airfield goes back to 1953–54, when the Training Center of the Aviation of the Air Defence Forces (Russian: Краснознамённый учебно-методический центр авиации ПВО) was moved to Savasleyka from Seyma (Volodarsk).[2]
The Tupolev Tu-128 (NATO: Fiddler) was originally fielded at Savasleyka in 1964.[3] It is a small airfield with a utilitarian layout and a small number of unpaved fighter revetments.
Savasleyka was home to 54th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (54 Gv IAP) with Sukhoi Su-27 (NATO: Flanker) aircraft in 1994 and today, as part of the 4th Aircrew Combat Training Centre at Lipetsk Air Base. The 54th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment had previously been based at Vainode Air Base in the Latvian SSR. The 4th absorbed the previous 148 TsBP i PLS (Aircrew Combat Training and Retraining Centre) of the PVO (Air Defense) with Sukhoi Su-17 (NATO: Fitter), Su-27, MiG-31MLD, and Mil Mi-8 aircraft after 1998.[4]
A small aircraft museum is currently operated at the base.