Kitanodai Airfield

The closure was driven by a combination of factors:
1) **Reduced Strategic Importance:** With the end of the Cold War, the need for a large forward-deployment fighter base in the Kuril Islands diminished significantly.
2) **Economic Collapse:** The economic turmoil following the collapse of the USSR made maintaining such a remote and logistically demanding military installation financially unsustainable.
3) **Harsh Environment:** The severe weather, seismic activity, and volcanic nature of Paramushir Island make infrastructure maintenance extremely difficult and costly. The 1994 Shikotan earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Severo-Kurilsk further highlighted the region's volatility, though the airfield was likely already defunct by then.

The site is completely abandoned and derelict. Satellite imagery clearly shows the faint outlines of the former runway and taxiway system, but they are heavily degraded, broken, and overgrown with vegetation. The airfield is entirely unusable for any form of aviation. Any remaining buildings or infrastructure from its operational period are in a state of advanced decay and ruin. The site exists today only as a historical artifact of World War II and the Cold War.

Kitanodai Airfield has significant dual-era historical importance.

**World War II (Japanese Era):** Originally built by the Japanese Empire, it was a major airbase for the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF). It was one of several key airfields on Paramushir Island used to defend Japan's northern flank. Most notably, aircraft from Kitanodai and the neighboring Shumshu Island participated in the attacks on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in June 1942 as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign.

**Cold War (Soviet Era):** After the Soviet Union invaded and annexed the Kuril Islands in August 1945, the Red Army took control of all Japanese military facilities. Kitanodai was repurposed as a Soviet Air Force base. Throughout the Cold War, it served as a forward airbase for fighter jets (such as MiG-15s and MiG-17s) to patrol the airspace and intercept potential US intruders from nearby Alaska.

There are zero prospects for reopening the original Kitanodai Airfield. However, the Russian government is actively constructing a **brand new, modern all-weather airfield** on Paramushir Island to establish reliable, year-round air transportation for the residents of Severo-Kurilsk. This new airport, a major federal project under construction since the late 2010s, is located a few kilometers from the old Kitanodai site. It is designed to handle passenger aircraft like the DHC-6 Twin Otter and eventually larger planes, replacing the current and often unreliable helicopter service. Therefore, the historic Kitanodai site is being superseded by a new facility, not revitalized.