Dolinsk-Sokol (air base)

Dolinsk-Sokol is a military air base in Sakhalin Oblast, Russia located 8 km south of Dolinsk. It is a small base with numerous hardened hangars (aircraft shelters).

Dolinsk-Sokol
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OperatorRussian Air Force
ServesAir base in Dolinsk, Sakhalin Oblast Prohibited to civilians
LocationDolinsk
Elevation AMSL95 ft / 33 m
Coordinates47°15′42″N 142°46′6″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
2/20 8,202 2,500 Concrete
For the regional civilian airport at Magadan, Russia see Sokol Airport.

It existed before June 1966 according to declassified KH-7 satellite images. Its chief operating unit was 365 IAP (365th Interceptor Aviation Regiment), flying the Su-15, MiG-23, and Su-27 during its 40 years of tenure.[1] In the 1980s it received the MiG-31.[2] It is also listed as being home to 361 IIVP (361st Instruction Test Helicopter Regiment) flying Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters.[3]

In the early 1980s, MiG-21 Fishbed aircraft occasionally deployed from Dolinsk-Sokol to the front-line airfield of Burevestnik, 240 miles to the southeast on the Kuril Islands [4] In early 1983 Dolinsk-Sokol began deploying newer MiG-23 from Dolinsk-Sokol to Burevestnik after upgrades were completed there.

Dolinsk-Sokol is famous for being home to the Sukhoi Su-15 that shot down Korean Air Flight 007 near Moneron Island in September 1983. At that time, base commander was General Anatoly Kornukov, who later become Commander of the Russian Air Force.[5] At the time of the shootdown, Kornukov apparently ordered the shootdown to prevent KAL 007 from leaving Sakhalin airspace.[5]

References
  1. "Aviatsiya PVO". Aviabaza KPOI.
  2. Mason, R. A. (1986). Aircraft, Strategy and Operations of the Soviet Air Force. Jane's Publishing Company Limited. ISBN 0-7106-0373-8.
  3. Butowski, Pyotr (2004). Air Power Analysis: Russian Federation. AIRtime Publishing, Inc.
  4. Flogger Deployment, Burevestnik Airfield, USSR, Central Intelligence Agency, August 28, 1983.
  5. Jürgen Kleiner (2001). Korea, a Century of Change. World Scientific. ISBN 981-02-4657-9. Retrieved 2009-01-25.


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