Russia is expanding the capabilities of strategic aviation! New platforms are being built at the Engels-2 airbase

The Russian Federation is building new aircraft platforms at the "Engels-2" airbase, which was used for Tu-95 and Tu-160 during the strikes against Ukraine. Satellite images first showed changes, and then - areas flooded with concrete, writes the Ukrainian magazine "Focus".

The command of the Russian Armed Forces is expanding the capabilities of strategic aviation based at "Engels-2", writes the OSINT analyst under the pseudonym Avi Vector on the social network X (Twitter). Construction work intensified in October, and the first signs that something was being planned appeared in the spring of 2025.

The OSINT publication appeared on October 11. Avi Vector published a satellite photo of the Russian air base and marked the areas where construction was taking place. He noticed new concrete pads in the southern part. According to him, previously, on September 30, similar work was carried out on the new runways. The Russians carried out the appropriate preparations in advance, which were noticed by a satellite.

Avi Vector explains that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will receive 12 new bomber parking pads, which will be connected to the rest of the base by taxiways. Another OSINT analyst with the pseudonym StefanB2023 adds that plans to expand the base appeared back in 2016, after a major renovation. According to him, the work began in March 2025 - the runways will connect at a conditional “intersection“, which he marked on one of the satellite photos.

“The taxiways will form a large circle and will connect with the places marked in yellow“, states the publication of StefanB2023.

It should be noted that “Engels-2“ is a Russian air base in the Saratov region of the Russian Federation (700 km from Ukraine), from which strategic bombers take off for missile strikes against the Ukrainians. The base is designed for Tu-95 aircraft (can launch 6-8 Kh-101 missiles) and Tu-160 (about 12 Kh-101). The bombers in question participated, for example, in the massive strike on June 6.

According to the Defense Express portal, five T-95s and two Tu-160s took off. The seven aircraft fired a total of 36 missiles, which means they were not fully loaded (otherwise, 54 to 64 X-101s would have been fired).