Rūdininkai Air Base

Military and geopolitical change. The primary reason for its closure was the withdrawal of the Soviet Armed Forces from the newly independent Republic of Lithuania. The base was a specialized Soviet Air Force bombing and gunnery range ('poligon'), and the restored Lithuanian Armed Forces had neither the requirement nor the resources to operate such a large-scale, specialized aviation facility. It was effectively abandoned as an active air base and repurposed.

The site is now the Rūdininkai Military Training Area (Rūdininkų poligonas), a key training ground for the Lithuanian Armed Forces and their NATO allies. The former runways and taxiways are still visible on satellite imagery but are in a state of disrepair and are now used by military ground vehicles during exercises. The area is undergoing significant expansion and modernization to become a premier training facility. In 2022, the Lithuanian government approved a special plan to develop a new military 'town' on the site, with barracks, canteens, and training infrastructure to accommodate a brigade-sized unit (up to 3,000 soldiers). The area is actively used for infantry maneuvers, live-fire exercises, and large-scale NATO drills. In 2021, a section of the training area was also temporarily used to set up a camp for migrants during the border crisis with Belarus.

Rūdininkai Air Base was not a typical air base with permanently stationed aircraft regiments. It was one of the most important Soviet Air Force bombing ranges in the Baltic Military District. Its primary function was to serve as a training ground for bomber and ground-attack aircraft crews from across the Soviet Union. Pilots would practice bombing runs (using both inert and live ordnance), rocket attacks, and cannon strafing on various ground targets set up within the range. The facility featured two parallel concrete runways, which were likely used for practice approaches or by transport aircraft supporting the range's operations, rather than for regular combat sorties. Aircraft such as the Tu-16, Tu-22, Su-17, Su-24, and others frequently used the range for honing their air-to-ground combat skills. Its vast, sandy, and sparsely populated location made it ideal for such activities.

There are zero prospects for reopening Rūdininkai as a public or commercial airport. All current and future development plans are exclusively focused on its enhancement as a military training area for ground forces. The existing runway infrastructure is degraded beyond repair for standard aviation use and is being integrated into the ground training landscape. The significant investment in building new barracks, firing ranges, and maneuver areas confirms its long-term role as a land-based military facility, not an active air base.