Šiauliai Air Base

Šiauliai Air Base is a Lithuanian Air Force base located near Šiauliai. Since 2004, it has been one of the bases of the Baltic Air Policing mission.[1][2][3] It is connected to Šiauliai International Airport.

Soviet-built aircraft shelters at Šiauliai

History

In 1931, an airfield was built in Šiauliai specifically for Lithuanian air forces. In 1940, after Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940) the airfield was placed at the disposal of the Red Army. June 22, 1941 aviation Wehrmacht and made a raid on the airfield, destroying a significant part of the Soviet aircraft there (including Polikarpov I-15 and Polikarpov I-16). During the war, the Germans used the forced labor of Lithuanian Jews to maintain the airfield.

After the war, the airfield was expanded and specially transformed for the needs of Soviet aviation: by 1957, two large runways were built. In 1955, Šiauliai Airfield was one of six Soviet airfields that could receive intercontinental strategic bombers M-4 with nuclear weapons on board.

At the aerodrome were based 53rd Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment (fighters MiG-23 and MiG-27),[4] 18th Guards Military Transport Aviation Division, 196th Military Transport Aviation Division (transport aircraft IL-76)[5] and 117th Separate Aviation Berlin Order of Kutuzov ALC EW (planes An-12).[5]

From 1966 to 1992, the 67th Separate Aviation Squadron DRLO military unit 32457 was based on airplanes Tu-126, then on A-50.

In 1993, Russian troops were withdrawn from the territory of Lithuania. The airfield was partially re-equipped to receive civilian flights (irregular), but remained the basis of the Lithuanian Air Force. In 2004, Lithuania joined NATO, and the air forces of NATO were deployed at the airfield. The airfield is also used to refuel cargo and transit aircraft.

NATO presence

Members of NATO have taken turns rotating forces to the air base as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission, which has approximately 100 NATO support personnel assigned to the base.[6][7][8]

References
  1. Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania (2017). "Lithuanian Defence System: Facts and Trends" (PDF). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania. p. 10.
  2. Sytas, Andrius (April 27, 2016). "U.S. F-22s land in Lithuania in show of force amid Russia tensions". Reuters.
  3. "Denmark and Italy help secure Baltic Airspace". NATO. January 8, 2018.
  4. Gordon, Yefim (2005). MiG-23/27 Flogger: Soviet Swing-Wing Fighter / Strike Aircraft. Midland. 185780211X.
  5. "37 Vozdushnaya Armiya VGK". Brinkster.com.
  6. Mary N. Hampton; M. Donald Hancock (22 October 2015). The Baltic Security Puzzle: Regional Patterns of Democratization, Integration, and Authoritarianism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-4422-4853-3.
  7. Heather A. Conley; Jeffrey Rathke; Matthew Melino (9 February 2018). Enhanced Deterrence in the North: A 21st Century European Engagement Strategy. Center for Strategic & International Studies. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4422-8050-2.
  8. Robert Czulda; Marek Madej (2015). Newcomers No More? Contemporary NATO and the Future of the Enlargement from the Perspective of "Post-Cold War" Members. Instytut Badań nad Stosunkami Międzynarodowymi. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-83-62784-04-2.
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