Lielvārde (air base)

Infobox Airport
name = Lielvarde
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type = Latvian Air Force
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location = Lielvarde
elevation-f = 200
elevation-m = 61
coordinates = Coord|56|46|42|N|024|51|12|E|type:airport|display=inline,title
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r1-number =
r1-length-f = 8202
r1-length-m = 2500
r1-surface = Concrete
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Lielvarde is an air base in Latvia located 7 km north of Lielvarde and southeast of Riga. It was built in 1970 for an attack aircraft regiment. It was transferred from Russia to Latvia in 1994 and now forms the core of operations for the Latvian Air Force.

During the Cold War it was home to 899 APIB (899th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment) and/or 899 BAP (Bomber Aviation Regiment) flying Su-24 aircraft in the 1970s and upgrading to MiG-23 UB aircraft in the 1980s [cite book| title = MiG-23/27 Flogger: Soviet Swing-Wing Fighter/Strike Aircraft | last = Gordon | first = Yefim | publisher = Midland | date = 2005 | id = 185780211X ] . It is reported to be flying MiG-27 aircraft in the 2000s.

References