Chkalovskiy Airfield

The primary reason for the decline in operations was the collapse of the Soviet Union. The base, located in newly independent Ukraine, lost its original mission as a primary Soviet naval aviation test center. While a portion of the facility (the NITKA complex) was leased back to Russia, the main airfield and its infrastructure fell into disuse and disrepair due to a lack of funding and a clear operational purpose for the Ukrainian military at the time.

The site is not abandoned. Following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the airfield was taken over by the Russian Armed Forces and reactivated as a military installation. While Russia has since built a new primary NITKA complex in Yeysk, the Kirovske base has been repurposed as a forward operating base, logistics hub, and helicopter base. Since the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has been used to stage military equipment and has been the reported target of Ukrainian strikes, including a significant attack on an ammunition depot in July 2023. It is an active military zone.

The airfield, historically known as Kirovske Air Base, was of immense strategic importance to the Soviet Union. It was a primary test and training center for Soviet Naval Aviation. Its most critical feature is the NITKA (Наземный испытательный тренировочный комплекс авиационный - Ground-based Test and Training Aviation Complex). This is a full-scale land-based replica of an aircraft carrier deck, complete with a ski-jump ramp and arresting gear. The NITKA complex was indispensable for developing and testing Soviet carrier-based fighter aircraft, such as the Sukhoi Su-33 and Mikoyan MiG-29K, and for training the pilots who would operate them from the aircraft carrier 'Admiral Kuznetsov'. After the USSR's collapse, the complex remained vital for the Russian Navy, which continued to train its pilots there under a lease agreement with Ukraine.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airfield for any civilian purpose. Its future is entirely dependent on the military-political situation and the outcome of the Russo-Ukrainian War. It is expected to remain a strategic military asset for whichever state controls the Crimean peninsula.