Lipetsk air base

Lipetsk Air Base is an air base in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia located 12 km northwest of Lipetsk. It is the chief combat training center of the Russian Aerospace Forces, analogous to the United States Air Force's Nellis [Air Force Base]. The base is made up of two medium-sized airfields joined together.
The base is home to the 4th State Centre for Aircrew Training and Field Tests, formerly the 4th Centre for Combat Application and Crew Training. Components of the 4th Centre include the 968th Instructor-Research Aviation Regiment and the 237th Air Force Display Centre of the Russian Air Force. I. N. Kozheduba - Russian Falcons.

History

In 1925, the Soviet government allowed Weimar Republic Germany to open an Fighter [pilot school Lipetsk|air combat school] at Lipetsk: Lipetsk fighter-pilot school. That permitted Germany to evade treaty restrictions on the development of military aviation, while the Soviet Air Forces received technical advice and access to test results. By 1933, the Soviets concluded that the arrangement was not worthwhile, and the new German government agreed. The school was closed.
The 4th Center of Combat Application and Conversion of Frontline Aviation, Russia's Top Gun school since around the 1960s, is the most well known unit on the base. Its chief, Col. Kharchevski, became famous after air combat exercises in the US and has become the personal pilot of President Putin.
From the 1960s to 1990, units stationed at Lipetsk include:

4th Centre for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel
760th Composite Training and Research Aviation Regiment flying 14 Mikoyan MiG-29E, 13 Sukhoi Su-17, 16 Sukhoi Su-25, and a number of Sukhoi Su-24, Sukhoi Su-27, and Mi-8 aircraft as of the early 1990s.
91st Training and Research Regiment flying Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23, 23 Mikoyan MiG-29, and 15 Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft as of the early 1990s

In 1992, the 968th Fighter Aviation Regiment arrived from Falkenberg in East Germany. It was flying Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 and Mikoyan MiG-29 aircraft in the mid-1990s. In 1992-1993 it became first a Research-Instructor Fighter Aviation Regiment and then a Research-Instructor Mixed Aviation Regiment. Flying solely MiG-29s by 2004, it later also flew Sukhoi Su-24M aircraft.

Russo-Ukrainian War (2014/2022 – enduring)

On 8 August 2024, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, the airbase was struck by a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack that caused numerous explosions and fires. A warehouse containing guided aerial bombs and other facilities near the airbase were hit, with multiple sources of ignition resulting in a massive fire and multiple detonations, according to the Ukrainian general staff. Damage to the aircraft at the base was still being assessed the morning after the attack. The governor of Lipetsk reported detonations and said that six people had been injured. The fire at the air base facility was confirmed by NASA's Fire Information for [Resource Management System|FIRMS].
On 20 October 2024, the air base was attacked by Ukrainian drones with Ukrainian officials reporting that the attack was aimed at fuel, equipment and ammunition stored on the base.
According to informations from the Ukrainian military secret service in the night to 21 December 2025 two military fighter jets of the types Su-30 and Su-27 have been incended and set out of order on the air base. The attack was made by long distance drohnes of HUR. The planning of this special operation needed two weeks.