Ämari Air Base

Ämari

A-10's of Michigan Air National Guard at Ämari Air Base in 2012.
IATA: none – ICAO: EEEI
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Estonian Air Force, NATO
Serves Keila
Elevation AMSL 66 ft / 20 m
Coordinates 59°15′36″N 024°12′30″E / 59.26000°N 24.20833°E / 59.26000; 24.20833
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
06/24 9,022 2,750 Asphalt/Concrete

Ämari Air Base (also given in references as Suurküla (original Estonian name), Vasalemma, Emari, Suurkyul, Shuurkyul, and Shuurkul - last forms of the Estonian names are derivates of names Russian-speaking military personnel used when it was used by the Soviet military.") (ICAO: EEEI) is a military airbase in Harjumaa, Estonia located 7 km south of Lake Klooga. The length of the runway does not include a 250 m overrun at each end.

History

In Soviet times, Ämari was home to 321 and/or 170 MShAP (321st and/or 170th Naval Shturmovik Aviation Regiment) flying Su-24 aircraft.[1]

Ämari Air Base will be a NATO interoperable airfield in the future. Works to this effect were scheduled for completion in 2012. In September 2010, the renewed runway was officially inaugurated.[2]

Estonian Air Force Air Surveillance Wing was created on 1 January 1998 and is located at the Ämari Air Base.

Current use

Ämari Air Base badge.

The Estonian Government has offered the base as a facility to be used to conduct NATO Baltic Air Policing patrols. In April 2014 a team from the United States Air Force's 48th Fighter Wing assessed the air base for this purpose, and Stars and Stripes reported that it was likely that patrols would be conducted from Ämari in the future.[3] On 30 April 2014 this mission began with the arrival of four Danish F-16s.[4]

During 2015 it was announced that the aerial assets from the American Operation Atlantic Resolve would be based there.[5]

In September 2015, Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighters visited Ämari.[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amari Air Base.

Other big investments are the Jägala army base and Tapa army base projects for Ground Forces units.

There are also a number of ex Soviet era airfields in Estonia.

References

  1. ↑ "Aviatsiya VMF". Aviabaza KPOI.
  2. ↑ http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/09/15/20547678.html
  3. ↑ Lekic, Slobodan (25 April 2014). "USAF team checks Estonia air base for NATO mission". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "NATO opens an air base in Estonia". estonianworld.com. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  5. ↑ AirForces Monthly. Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. November 2015. p. 15.
  6. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/glorious-photos-of-us-f-22-fighter-jets-arriving-in-russias-backyard-2015-9?utm_content=buffer9627d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.