Sormovo Airfield


Sormovo is an airfield in Russia, located on the outskirts of Nizhny Novgorod, some from the center city, just west of the Sokol Aircraft Plant. Legally, it is within the city's Moskovsky District, but it is commonly referred to by the name of the much better-known neighborhood of Sormovo, which is to the north of the airfield. Moreover, between 1956 and 1970 the airfield was in fact part of the Sormovsky District.
According to the Western sources, it is a military base with MiG-25 and MiG-31 aircraft. The runway dimensions suggest that this airfield was built in the 1950s as a bomber base.
As of 2000, Google Earth high-resolution satellite images showed 14 MiG-25, 6 MiG-21, and a small number of older fighters and fixed-wing aircraft. The west side of the runway has a 50-m displaced threshold; the actual runway dimension is 3000 m.
Locally, the airfield is known as Airfield Nizhny Novgorod of the Nizhny Novgorod Sokol Aviation Plant. According to Sokol's website, the plant currently manufactures MiG-31E fighter-interceptors, MiG-29UB fighter-trainers, and Yak-130 combat trainers; they also upgrade customers'
MiG-21 BIS planses, and manufacture small civilian airplanes. The factory premises are adjacent to the eastern end of the airfield.