Tiksi West Airfield

Coordinates: 71°41′36″N 128°41′0″E / 71.69333°N 128.68333°E

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Tiksi West

IATA: none
ICAO: none

Summary

Airport type

Military

Operator

Russian Air Force

Location

Tiksi

Elevation AMSL

195 ft / 59 m

Coordinates

71°41′36″N 128°41′0″E / 71.69333°N 128.68333°E

Map

Tiksi West

Shown within Sakha Republic

Tiksi West

Tiksi West (Russia)

Runways

Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
	11,483	3,500

Tiksi West (Tiksi-Zapadny) was a large air base in Sakha Republic, Russia, located about 7 km west of Tiksi. It appeared on Department of Defense navigation charts during the Cold War, and was listed as having a 13,500 ft (4100 metre) runway with jet capabilities.^[1]

History

The airfield was a large unimproved airstrip operated in the 1960s and 1970s. It was intended for arctic staging by Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers based at southerly locations such as Belaya. It also served as a diversion airfield for Tiksi. The airfield was only operational during the wintertime, when the packed snow provided a much larger runway and tarmac area than that available at nearby Tiksi Airport, allowing the airfield to receive many more airplanes. This was critical as the Soviet Union only had a small number of staging bases to reach North America. It was monitored by US intelligence as a possible Tupolev Tu-22M (Backfire) staging base as late as 1980.^[2]

Tiksi West was abandoned at the end of the Cold War. However several POL (petroleum, oil, and lubrication) farms fed by pipelines from the port facilities remain plainly visible on satellite imagery.

References

^ Operational Navigation Chart C-6, Defense Mapping Agency, 1974.
^ STRATEGIC ARMS LIMITATIONS RELATED ACTIVITIES SUMMARY REPORT (SANITIZED), June 1, 1980, CREST: CIA-RDP80T01355A000100140001-2, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.

v t e Airports in the Sakha Republic
Active	Aldan Aykhal Batagay Belaya Gora Chersky Chokurdakh Deputatsky Kyzyl-Syr Lensk Magan Mirny Moma Neryungri–Chulman Nyurba Olenyok Olyokminsk Polyarny Sakkyryr Saskylakh Srednekolymsk Suntar Talakan Teply Klyuch Tiksi Ust-Kuyga Ust-Maya Ust-Nera Verkhnevilyuysk Vilyuysk Vitim Yakutsk Yugarenok Zhigansk Zyryanka
Defunct	Tiksi West Airfield Zyryanka West

Airports built in the Soviet Union

Military

Active	Belaya Borisoglebskoye Burevestnik Dzyomgi Engels-2 Kirovsk–Apatity Klyuchi Kondinskoye Levashovo Lipetsk Magdagachi Ozerne Poltava Pugachyov Ryazan Dyagilevo Rzhev Samara Kryazh Saratov West Shatalovo Shaykovka Sol'tsy-2 Tatishchevo Tiksi Tilichiki Tushino Airfield Uka Ukrainka Vorkuta Sovetsky Vozdvizhenka Yaroslavl Levtsovo Yevpatoria Yugorsk Sovetsky
Defunct	Baherove Bakharevka Berezovka Dolon Dolon Southwest Jonava Lakhta Lenino Pryluky Raadi Saratov South Smirnykh Stryi Tiksi West Uzyn Vetrovoye Zavitinsk