Machulishchy (air base)

Machulishchy is an air base of the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Republic of Belarus located in Machulishchy, Minsk Region, Belarus.

It is home to the 50th Composite Air Base, flying Antonov An-26s, Ilyushin Il-76MD's, Mil Mi-8s and Mil Mi-24s.

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.

On 26 February 2023, two explosions were reported at the base. Russian aircraft and equipment were damaged. Russian A-50 aircraft may have been targeted. The explosions were a result of sabotage from Belarusian partisans.