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Wittstock: Air Base

Wittstock/Dosse, Alt Daber, Аэродром Витшток

For historical information only, do not use for navigation or aviation purposes!
CoordinatesN531208 E0123119 (WGS84) Google Maps
Elevation 75 m
Former East Germany (GDR)District of Potsdam
Federal stateBrandenburg
Map with location of Wittstock Air Base, Germany
Germany during the Cold War Map
The history of the Cold War airfields: Wittstock

Location of airfield

5 km northeast of Wittstock/Dosse city center.

During World War II

Use

Luftwaffe air base (Fliegerhorst).

Situation

Wittstock Air Base in World War II
Wittstock Air Base in World War II on a US map from 1943
Source: McMaster University Library Digital Archive, Lizenz: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 CC BY-NC 2.5 CA

During the Cold War

Use

Soviet air base until 1994.

In the 1950s

Units

1954
  • Headquarters Soviet Northern Fighter Corps
  • Soviet fighter regiment (P. O. Box of the technical unit: 62 314),
  • A total of 38 (?) MiG-15/MiG-15U were counted at the airfield.
Source: BND/Bundesarchiv B 206/3033
(For the P. O. Box numbers the digits 3 and 5 may be confused, because they are difficult to distinguish in the source document)

In the 1960s

Situation

Wittstock Air Base on map 1969
Wittstock Air Base on a US map from 1969
Source: Earth Sciences and Map Library, University of California, Berkeley

Overview

1964
Wittstock Soviet Air Base, Germany, on a US satellite image 1964
Wittstock Soviet Air Base on a US satellite image from 14 March 1964 - Viewing direction is approx. west. 1: Airfield; 2: inner radio beacon; 3: outer radio beacon; 4: radar site; 5: railway siding; 6: training ground; 7: Berlinchen airfield. The SAM site near Wulfersdorf did not exist at that time.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Wittstock Aerodrome
Airfield
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Southwestern end with aircraft blast walls
Southwestern end - Some aircraft are in blast walls, others next to it.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Aircraft revetments
Northwestern end - A grass runway is marked directly north (here: on the right) of the paved runway. The aircraft revetments are empty.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Fliegerhorst buildings
The substance of the former Luftwaffe Fliegerhorst is still well preserved.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Wittstock aircraft hangars
The field has numerous hangars - Directly in front of the upper hangar stands an airplane with stretched wings. The object opposite on the other side of the taxiway could be a helicopter. Approximately in the middle of the picture you can see a bigger plane. In front of the two lower halls there are several fighter planes.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Wittstock Soviet airfield: Target cross
Target cross in the north
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Railway siding
Further installations and railway siding
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Aircraft parking areas Wittstock
Parking areas and aircraft in the south-eastern part of the airport
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Decoy
Aircraft in the northeast - Decoy?
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Wittstock runway
Beginning of the runway in the east - Here, too, the marked grass runway is visible directly to the right.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Inner radio beacon
Inner radio beacon, approx. 1 km to east
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Outer radio beacon, between Berlinchen and Dranse
Outer radio beacon, approx. 4 km to the east, between Berlinchen and Dranse
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Soviet radar site, Biesen, Germany
Radar site north of Biesen
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Soviet training area on the road to Alt Daber, Germany
Training area directly west of the airfield, on the road to Alt Daber
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
1969
Compared to 1964, the following pictures from 1969 show a significant change: There are now closed aircraft shelters at the airfield. In addition, about 8 km northwest near Wulfsdorf a surface-to-air missile (SAM) site has been built.
Wittstock Air Base, 1969
Satellite image from 06 February 1969, the area is covered with snow. - In the north, additional open revetments have apparently been built over the past 5 years.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Soviet SAM site Wulfersdorf, Germany
Soviet SAM site Wulfersdorf - Directly to the west, the Wittstock-Meyenburg railway line, which was closed down in 1967, passes in an arched shape.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Even this satellite picture of 03 August 1969 is partly covered by clouds, you can see the aircraft shelter as dark objects.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey

Radio communication

The radio call sign of the air base was NAPJORSTOK.

History

  • 1966
    Observation by the US Military Liaison Mission: The single-jet (MiG-21PF) FISBED D interceptor aircraft joined the Wittstock regiment. In March, the arrival of a new squadron with that type was noticed. (Source: USMLM 1966)

Images

Soviet aircraft MiG-21PF FISHBED D
A MiG-21PF FISHBED D in 1966, probably from Wittstock
Source: United States Military Liaison Mission, Unit History 1966

In the 1970s

Situation

Map with Wittstock airfield 1972
Wittstock Air Base on a map of the US Department of Defense from 1972
Source: ONC E-2 (1972), Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin

In the 1980s and early 1990s

Runways

  • 08/26: 2400 m

Radio beacons

  • LOM 26: 421 "GJ", 4150 m
  • LMM 26: 205 "G", 1100 m
  • LOM 08: 421 "OR"
  • LMM 08: 205 "O"

Radio communication

The Russian radio call sign for the airfield was GAZOVIJ ("Gas", original notation in Cyrillic: ГАЗОВЫЙ).

Standard training routes

"Flüge der LSK/LV der NVA und der LSK der GSSD im Rahmen der Gefechtsausbildung sind entsprechend der Grafik der Flugtage / -nächte auf der Grundlage der "Hauptflugregeln zum Fliegen im Luftraum der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik" auf Standardflugstrecken in den dazu festgelegten Flughöhen durchzuführen. ..." (Quelle: "Verzeichnis der Standardflugstrecken der LSK/LV der NVA und der LSK der GSSD"
As of 1989:
023 Wittstock, Pritzwalk, Neustadt-Glewe, Krudopp, Malchow, Wittstock
Höhe: 600, 900, 1200, 1850 m
Abfangabschnitt: Pritzwalk, Neustadt-Glewe, Malchow
025 Wittstock, Pritzwalk, Neustadt-Glewe, Krudopp, Malchin, Schießplatz Retzow, Wittstock
Höhe: 900, 1200, 1850 m
026 Wittstock, Pritzwalk, Neustadt-Glewe, Krudopp, Malchin, Schießplatz Wittstock, Zechlin-Flecken, Wittstock (der Schießplatz Wittstock ist zu umfliegen)
Höhe: 900, 1200, 1850 m, ab Neustadt-Glewe 900 m
027 Wittstock, Pritzwalk, Neustadt-Glewe, Crivitz, Neustrelitz, Wittstock
Höhe: 600, 1200, 1850 m
Abfangabschnitt: Crivitz, Neustrelitz
028 Wittstock, Pritzwalk, Ruhlsdorf, Loitz, Wittstock
Höhe: 8650, 9450, 11900-18000 m
Höheneinnahme: Traverse Parchim
Abfangabschnitt: Lindow, Stavenhagen
029 Wittstock, Pritzwalk, Ruhlsdorf, Grimmen, Wittstock
Höhe: 11000-18000 m
Abfangabschnitt: Lindow, Teterow

Units

33 IAP: MiG-29, MiG-29UB, MiG-23UB (1990)

Installations

  • Railway siding from Groß Haßlow to the southern part of the airfield.
  • Radar site west of airfield near Biesen.
  • The airfield's anti-aircraft missile site was near Wulfersdorf.

Today

Use

Closed.

Sources

Bibliography

  • Ries, Karl; Dierich, Wolfgang: "Fliegerhorste und Einsatzhäfen der Luftwaffe" Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart, 1993 - Allied map of the former Luftwaffe airbase
  • /USMLM 1966USMLM 1966/:
    United States Military Liaison MissionUnited States Military Liaison Mission: "Unit History 1966Unit History 1966"
  • Freundt, Lutz: "Sowjetische Fliegerkräfte in Deutschland 1945-1994, Band 3" Edition Freundt Eigenverlag, Diepholz 1999 - Description, pictures, aerial pictures from 1953 and 1991
  • Freundt, Lutz: "Sowjetische Fliegerkräfte in Deutschland 1945-1994, Band 4" Edition Freundt Eigenverlag, Diepholz 2000 - Additions
  • Freundt, Lutz (Hrsg.), Büttner, Stefan: "Rote Plätze - Russische Militärflugplätze in Deutschland 1945 - 1994" AeroLit Verlag, 2007 - Description, pictures, aerial pictures from 1953 and 1991

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