Machulishchy (air base)
Machulishchy is an air base in Minsk Region, Belarus located 13 km south of Minsk. It has served as a strategic bomber base for the Soviet Union. It also served as a Soviet Air Defence Forces interceptor base.
The primary operator was the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment. Machulishchy was one of nine major operating locations for the Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder in the mid-1960s. In August 1960, six Tu-22 aircraft from Machulishchy deployed to Olenya air base in the arctic region under naval control, indicating the regiment had a dual Navy-Air Force mission serving an anti-surface warfare role. This capability covered the Baltic Sea with deployment capability into the Barents Sea region.
Later in the 1970s an interceptor regiment at Machulishchy operated Sukhoi Su-9 Fishpot interceptors, upgraded in 1979 to MiG-23P aircraft. At the time, the airfield was still host to the Tu-22 Blinder ASM regiment.
