6 Bases during the Cold War

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ZanzibarAvailable, port calls.AngolaLuandaWas main Soviet naval base on West African coast,having replaced Conakry; guided-missile destroyerand several accompanying craft stationed here.İ 2007 Robert E. HarkavyBases during the Cold War 133Table 10 continuedHost nation baseDescriptionMadagascarDiego SuarezAvailable, port calls.TanativeAvailable, port calls.BeninCotonouPeriodic port calls.GuineaConakryFormerly hosted small West African flotilla; use latercurtailed, if not eliminated.CongoPonte NoirReported occasional port calls.Guinea BissauGeba EstuaryPort calls.AlgeriaMers El KebirPort calls.AnnabaSoviet repair ships deployed. Submarine repaircapabilities reported.LibyaTripoliRegular access, Soviet Mediterranean squadron.BenghaziRegular access, Soviet Mediterranean squadron.BardiaSoviet Union reported constructing naval base here.SyriaLatakiaMain base for Soviet Mediterranean squadron; fuel,replenishment, etc.TartusRegular access, maintenance facility for attacksubmarines, oiler, tender.Ras ShamraSoviet submarine base alleged under construction.YugoslaviaTivatRepair of Soviet ships and submarines.RijekaPort calls.PulaPort calls.SibenikPort calls.SplitPort calls.GreeceSiros IslandShip repairs, commercial, at Neorian shipyard.CubaCienfuegosReplenishment base for Soviet attack submarines,mooring of submarine tender occasionally rumoured.MarielPort calls.Nipe BayPort calls, Gulf-class submarines, intelligencecollectors.HavanaAccess for Soviet surface ships.Santiago de CubaPage 40
Access for Soviet surface ships.PeruCalleoOccasional ship visits since Soviet–Peruvian armsdeal.RomaniaMangaliaReported Soviet submarine base on Black Sea.SulinaForward supply base for Soviet Danube flotilla.Source: Compiled from SIPRI data.İ 2007 Robert E. HarkavyDahlak Archipelago (Ethiopia) in the western Indian Ocean/Horn of Africa area;Luanda (Angola) in the South Atlantic; Latakia and Tartus (Syria) in the Mediterranean;and Havana, Cienfuegos and Mariel (Cuba) in the western North Atlantic.Beyond that, the Soviet Navy had acquired degrees of access – secondary bases,minor facilities, port visits etc. – in numerous other locales (often the subject ofdebate over facts and interpretations). These included Cambodia, India, Iraq, Mauritius,the Seychelles, Madagascar, Mozambique, Angola, Congo, Sao Tome andPrincipe, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Benin, Guinea, Algeria, Libya, Yugoslavia,Spain (Canary Islands), Nicaragua and Peru. That may not have been a trulyglobal basing structure, but it was something well beyond what would haveaccorded with a strictly defensive, coastal defense navy, or with the assumptionsand expectations of a generation earlier.Soviet air bases70Numerically speaking, the Cold War Soviet Air Force was huge, comprising – invarying degrees of readiness – some 4000 combat aircraft. More than half of thesewere primarily configured as interceptors, that is, they were for strategic and/ortactical defense; the remainder were configured mostly as ground-attack craft. Stillothers had as their primary functions reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures;540 and 30 craft, respectively. In its strategic forces, the USSR had some165 long-range, 567 medium-range, and 450 short-range bombers, 68 long-rangereconnaissance craft, some 100 ECM machines and (here deficient relative to theU.S.) a then growing force of some 50 Bison and Badger tankers.In line with the facts of Soviet ground and naval deployments, most permanentexternal deployments of aircraft were in the immediately contiguous areas ofEastern Europe within the WTO, Mongolia and Afghanistan. Otherwise,however, the Cold War years saw the Soviet Air Force break out of the confinesof Eurasia to establish more or less permanent bases in Vietnam, South Yemen,Angola and Cuba.The USSR had some 2000 tactical aircraft deployed in Eastern Europe. TheMiG-23 Flogger was by far the most numerous fighter-interceptor; followed bylate-model MiG-21 Fishbeds and older Su-15 Flagons. Other less numerousfighter-interceptors included the Foxbat, Firebar, Fiddler and the then new MiG-31 Foxhound and MiG-29 Fulcrum.Among the ground-attack aircraft, the most common were the Su-17 Fitterand MiG-27 Flogger, though reportedly the best interdiction aircraft in theSoviet inventory was the Su-24 Fencer. Other units were comprised of MiG-23Floggers, the then new Su-24 Frogfoot and older MiG-21 Fishbed and Su-7Fitter As. Reconnaissance aircraft deployed in Eastern Europe included MiG-21Fishbeds, Su-17 Fitters, MiG-25 Foxbats and Yak-28 Brewers.In East Germany, there were large numbers of attack and interceptor fighters,a total of 685 combat aircraft, comprising 315 attack aircraft (Su-17s, Su-24s,Su-25s, MiG-27s), 300 fighter interceptors (MiG-21/25/27s), 50 reconnaissancecraft (Su-17s, MiG-25s), plus 20 ECM and 40 light transport aircraft. These134 Bases during the Cold Warİ 2007 Robert E. Harkavywere forward-based at some 17 bases; quantitatively speaking, there were bothmore aircraft and bases than were fielded by the U.S. and British counterparts inWest Germany. These were at: Zossen-Wiesdorf, Stralsund, Peenemunde,Parchim (Hind-24 helicopters and long-range transports for troop exchanges),Finow, Werneuchen, Oranienburg, Wittstock, Neuruppin, Zerbst (MiG-25reconnaissance aircraft), Juterborg, Kothen, Welzow, Finsterwalde (Su-20 FitterB fighter regiment), Merseburg, Grossenhein and Alternburg.Page 41Page 42
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6 Bases during the Cold War

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