Dombarovsky (air base)

Interceptor base

The facility featured three revetment compounds.

The 412th Fighter Aviation Regiment (412 IAP PVO) flew from the base from August 1949 with the La-11, MiG-15, and MiG-17 to 1962. By the 1970s it was flying the Sukhoi Su-9 (Fishpot) aircraft. The regiment replaced it in 1978 with the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23M (Flogger-B). From 1953-60 it reported to the 101st Fighter Aviation Division PVO, and then to the 19th Air Defence Corps of the 4th Independent Air Defence Army. It disbanded in 1993.

Other reporting of the 763rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (763 IAP) flying MiG-23 aircraft in 1991 appears to be incorrect. The 763rd Fighter Aviation Regiment was, it appears from more recent data, flying from Yugorsk-2.

ICBM base

Dombarovsky is also the home of the 13th Dombarovsky Red Banner Division, 31st Missile Army of the Strategic Rocket Forces. The base was built during the mid-60s along with the majority of the Soviet ICBM bases.

The first base commander was Major-General Dmitri Chaplygin. Up to 10 units of Strategic Rocket Forces were based in the area, each with anywhere from 6 to 10 operational silos. At the peak of operations, Dombarovsky maintained a total of 64 silos on full alert. By 2002, according to the Russian press, the number had dropped to 52. The missiles deployed in the region were primarily the RS-20 type and its sub-variants.

On 22 December 2004, the Rocket Forces conducted from the base a test launch of an R-36M2 to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Western investigative outlets Danwatch (Denmark) and Der Spiegel (Germany) exposed a large amount of confidential information on the modernization of the base in May 2025, retrieving "more than two million documents" on the Russian Strategic Missile Forces over several years from a public database for contractors. These include detailed information on the building projects, incl. groundplans, electricity, piping, usage of the rooms by staff, and even surveillance cameras. They confirmed the base as being used for the new hypersonic Avangard system.

Commercial launches

With the conversion of the R-36M ICBM for use as a satellite launch vehicle, the Dnepr system, Dombarovsky has launched a number of commercial payloads. These civilian launches are operated by the Russian Air Force on behalf of the launcher's operator, Russian/Ukrainian consortium Kosmotras. Kosmotras calls the facility Yasny launch base, and has constructed additional facilities necessary for commercial satellite launch operations, including clean room integration facilities.

References

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References

1. "412th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991.
2. "13th Orenburgskaya Red Banner Missile Division". Soviet Armed Forces 1945-1991.
3. "412th Fighter Aviation Regiment PVO".
4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170123204647/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp81t00380r000100980001-5 PHASEOUT OF FISHPOT IN APVO STRANYY AIRFIELDS USSR], February 1981, CREST: CIA-RDP81T00380R000100980001-5, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC.
5. "Aviatsiya PVO". Aviabaza KPOI.
6. [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/dombarovskiy.html Dombarovskiy (Yasny) ICBM site] {{webarchive. link. (February 8, 2007)
7. (2007-11-17). "Dombarovskiy". Astronautix.com.
8. (28 May 2025). "Putin's nuclear files".
9. William Graham. (2013-08-22). "Russian Dnepr rocket launches with Arirang-5". NASASpaceflight.com.
10. William Graham and Chris Bergin. (2015-03-25). "Russia's Dnepr rocket launches Kompsat-3A mission". NASASpaceflight.com.