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Sredny Ostrov Airfield

Coordinates: 79°31′42″N 091°4′30″E / 79.52833°N 91.07500°E / 79.52833; 91.07500
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Sredny Ostrov
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OperatorRussian Air Force
Locationslightly west of Severnaya Zemlya
Elevation AMSL26 ft / 8 m
Coordinates79°31′42″N 091°4′30″E / 79.52833°N 91.07500°E / 79.52833; 91.07500
Map
Sredny Ostrov is located in Russia
Sredny Ostrov
Sredny Ostrov
Location in Russia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9,842 3,000


Sredny Ostrov is a small island ('ostrov') and a military airfield in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located in the northern Kara Sea, off the archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya and almost 900 km north of Khatanga which in turn is on the Siberian coast. Sredny is an ice airfield used as an alternate field for Tupolev Tu-95 ("Bear") bombers in the Arctic. It was built in the late 1950s as a staging base for Soviet Long Range Aviation bombers to reach the United States, and was maintained by OGA (Arctic Control Group), which was a caretaker agency for strategic facilities in the Arctic. In March 1979 2 Tu-128 (Fiddler) aircraft were based here. The airfield is believed to be operational, operated by Frontier Guards (FSB) and capable of servicing An-26 and An-72 aircraft (it was in use as of January 2000, when an expedition bound for the North Pole recorded being flown there from Khatanga).[1]

References

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  1. ^ Ola Skinnarmo, Kampen mot Nordpolen, Stockholm [DN-förlaget], 2000,; ch.1