Soltsy-2 (air base)
Military airport in Novgorod Oblast, Russia
Soltsy-2 (Russian: Сольцы; ICAO: XLLL) is an air base in Novgorod Oblast, Russia located 2 km north of Soltsy and 72 km southwest of Novgorod. It contains large aircraft revetments, with a separate compound of 9 hardened areas about 1 mile from the airfield.
The base is home to the 40th Composite Aviation Regiment which flies the Tu-22M as part of the 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.
In 1992, the headquarters of the 326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division (326 TBAD) arrived from Tartu Raadi Airfield in newly independent Estonia. In 1998 the division headquarters was moved to Ukrainka in the Far East.
The 840th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (840 TBAP) flew Tupolev Tu-22 aircraft from November 1951 through to 2010. The regiment was disbanded in 2010 following the changes initiated by the Russian military reforms from 2008.
Airfield is properly maintained for occasional training of Russian Aerospace Forces and to service governmental flights in Novgorod region.
Natural Resources Defense Council lists Soltsy-2 as a nuclear weapons facility.
012023 drone attack
On 19 August 2023 at about 10:00 am local time, the airbase was attacked by drones, which Russia claimed to be launched from Ukraine, 620 km away. A Tupolev Tu-22M long-range bomber, was reported damaged. Satellite pictures taken on 10 August showed Tu-22M3 dispersed in revetments either side of the runway. Pictures taken on 19 August showed all aircraft had been evacuated and the burnt out remains of one Tu-22M3.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Soltsy-2 (air base)”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Tu-22M3 Russian Air Force, Soltsy.jpg by Ivan Z., CC BY-SA 3.0
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