Dresba is an abandoned military airfield in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Chukotka Autonomous Okrug , or Chukotka , is a federal subject of Russia located in the Russian Far East.Chukotka has a population of 53,824 according to the 2002 Census, and a surface area of . The principal town and the administrative center is Anadyr...

, 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...

 located 343 km west of Pevek

Pevek

Pevek is a town and Arctic port in Chaunsky District, part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. After Anadyr and Bilibino it is the third largest town in Chukotka. Population: Municipally, the town is subordinated to Chaunsky Municipal district and together with Apapelgino and Yanranay, is...

. It was built around 1960, but it is unknown whether the airfield was simply graded or if paved surfaces were built. It was intended to be a strategic bomber air base along the shore of the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

, giving it access to northern resupply ship routes, and was presumably for either forward deployment or weather diversion for the Soviet Union's Tupolev Tu-95

Tupolev Tu-95

The Tupolev Tu-95 is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the former Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040...

 and Tupolev Tu-22

Tupolev Tu-22

The Tupolev Tu-22 was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s, and the last examples were retired during the 1990s...

 bomber force. Preview images of declassified KH-5

KH-5

KH-5 ARGON was a series of reconnaissance satellites produced by the United States from February 1961 to August 1964. The KH-5 operated similarly to the Corona series of satellites, as it ejected a canister of photographic film. At least 12 missions were attempted, but at least 7 resulted in...

 satellite passes from August 1966 on the USGS Earth Explorer website show the aerodrome to be in new condition. A radar facility exists on satellite imagery 14 km northwest of the airfield.

See also

• Chekurovka
  Chekurovka
  Chekurovka is a noteworthy Arctic military airfield in Sakha Republic, Russia located 89 km southwest of Tiksi. It is a remote, large bomber staging base that was either abandoned during construction or commissioned for emergency use. It was probably built around 1960 as a forward deployment...
  
  , abandoned Arctic staging base
• Ostrov Bolshevik
  Ostrov Bolshevik
  Ostrov Bolshevik is a noteworthy airfield in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, and is the fourth most northernmost airfield in Russia. It was probably constructed around 1960, and is among several very large trans-polar airfields for Russia's strategic bomber force that were either abandoned during...
  
  , abandoned Arctic staging base
• Tiksi North
  Tiksi North
  Tiksi North is a noteworthy military airfield in Russia located 41 km north of Tiksi. It is one of several very large airfields that were constructed in the Arctic regions around 1960 to handle Russian strategic bomber deployments, but never saw operational use...
  
  , abandoned Arctic staging base
• Tiksi West
  Tiksi West
  Tiksi West is a large abandoned airfield in Sakha Republic, Russia located about 10 km west of Tiksi. It appears on old Department of Defense navigation charts, and satellite imagery as of 2000 continues to show patterns of disturbed ground...
  
  , abandoned Arctic staging base