Belaya/Irkutsk | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Белая/Иркутск | |||||||
| Usolye-Sibirskoye,Irkutsk Oblast in Russia | |||||||
 Satellite imagery of Belaya air base | |||||||
 A pre-productionTupolev Tu-22M at the base | |||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Type | Air base | ||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | Russian Aerospace Forces | ||||||
| Controlled by | Long-Range Aviation | ||||||
| Location | |||||||
  Belaya Shown within Irkutsk Oblast Show map of Irkutsk Oblast Belaya Belaya (Russia) Show map of Russia | |||||||
| Coordinates | 52°54′54″N103°34′30″E / 52.91500°N 103.57500°E /52.91500; 103.57500 | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1946 (1946) | ||||||
| In use | 1946 – present | ||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: UIIB | ||||||
| Elevation | 458 metres (1,503 ft)AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
Belaya (ICAO:UIIB) is a significantRussian Aerospace ForcesLong-Range Aviation base inUsolsky District,Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, 18 kilometres (11 mi) north ofUsolye-Sibirskoye and 85 kilometres (53 mi) northwest ofIrkutsk. From 2009 it has sometimes been known asSrednii. It has significant ramp space and 38 bomber revetments.
The base is home to the200th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Brest Red Banner Order of Suvorov Regiment with the Tu-22M3, the444th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment with the Tu-22M3 and the181st Independent Composite Aviation Squadron with theAntonov An-12 and theAntonov An-30. All of the regiments are under the control of the326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Tarnopol Order of Kutuzov Division.[1]
The base's bomber fleet, consisting at various times ofTupolev Tu-16,Tupolev Tu-22, andTupolev Tu-22M aircraft, played a considerable role in Asian strategy. The base was especially important in projecting power against thePeople's Republic of China following theSino-Soviet split of the late 1960s.[not verified in body]
An air defense unit, the 350th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO (Military Unit: 65319), arrived at Belaya in 1946 or 1950 and was equipped with theMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, 1955–1962, theSukhoi Su-9, 1961–1967, and theTupolev Tu-128 (NATO: Fiddler) from 1967.[citation needed]
In 1954 Belaya was used as a staging base forTupolev Tu-4 aircraft sent to China to observe American fusion bomb tests in the Pacific, but the runway was unpaved at this time.[2] Sometime around the late 1950s the airfield was upgraded and it received nuclear bomber missions starting during the late 1960s.
By 1982 Western intelligence showed that Belaya supported two Tu-22M2 Backfire-B regiments subordinate to the Irkutsk Air Army, and a PVO air defense Tu-128 Fiddler regiment subordinate to the Novosibirsk Air Defense District.[3]
In 1984 the air defense regiment moved toBratsk Airport.[4] It was in succession part of the 26th Air Defence Division, the 39th Air Defence Corps, and the 54th Air Defence Corps. However, the bomber regiments remained.
Units stationed at Belaya from 1945 to 1994 included:
As the 1225 and 1229 TBAPs were disbanding in 1994, the 200th Guards Brestskiy Red Banner order of Suvorov Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment appears to have been arriving fromBobruisk,Mogilev Oblast, by that time part ofBelarus.The 200th Guard TBAP had been at Bobruisk since May 1946.[9] Once it arrived at Belaya, it came under the control of the326th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.As of 2006,Google Earth imagery showed a total of 26 Tupolev Tu-22M medium-range bombers visible inrevetments, increasing to 36 as of 2018.[10]
On 1 December 2009, the 200th Guards TBAP was reorganized as the 6953rd Guards Airbase, which later, in December 2010, reformed as an Air Group of the 6952nd Guards Air Base (Ukrainka).
In 2020, the Tu-22M3 bomber of the 200th Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment[11] was reported deployed as part of RussianLong Range Aviation.[12]
On 1 June 2025, theSecurity Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed to have damaged "more than 40" aircraft at Belaya and three other air bases (includingOlenya) by using drones. The aircraft included an unspecified number ofA-50,Tu-95 andTu-22 M3 type aircraft. They released footage of the drones striking aircraft on the runway.[13]
Media related toBelaya (air base) at Wikimedia Commons
