Afrikanda is a military air base in Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast

Murmansk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the northwestern part of Russia. Its administrative center is the city of Murmansk.-Geography:...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It is located just north of the village of the same name

Afrikanda (rural locality)

Afrikanda is the rural locality in Polyarnye Zori municipality of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. The village is located beyond the Arctic circle, on the Kola Peninsula...

.

Though it is built for fighter operations with 30 revetments, it has largely served the interceptor aircraft

Interceptor aircraft

An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...

 role. It was home to the 431 IAP (431st Interceptor Aviation Regiment), which operated 39 Su-15TM jets and a number of Su-27 aircraft (some sources give this as 470 IAP). In 1978 a Sukhoi Su-15

Sukhoi Su-15

The Sukhoi Su-15 was a twin-engined supersonic interceptor developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s to replace the Sukhoi Su-11, which was becoming obsolete as the United States and Britain introduced newer and more capable strategic bombers...

 was launched from Afrikanda to intercept Korean Air Flight 902

Korean Air Flight 902

Korean Air Lines Flight 902 was the flight number of a civilian airliner that was shot down April 20, 1978, near Murmansk, USSR, after it violated Soviet airspace and allegedly failed to respond to Soviet interceptors. Tapes released by Rovaniemi Area Control Centre show that the pilots of KAL902...

, a Boeing 707

Boeing 707

The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...

 which was later forcefully landed.

It is possible that Afrikanda may have closed around 2000 due to budget cuts; Scramble.nl, a Dutch aviation site, certainly says so.