Engels - 2 Engels Air Force Base ( also given as Engels - 2 or Engel ' s ) is a strategic air base in Russia located east of Saratov . Engels is a major bomber operations base , and is Russia ' s sole operating location for the Tupolev Tu - 160 strategic bombers . The base contains a runway and about 10 large revetment s . It is named after the Communist philosopher , Friedrich Engels . History . In 1930 , 1 . 5 km from the town of Engels , in a vacant lot , the construction of a military pilots school began . The 14th School of Pilots was activated at Engels on December 15 , 1930 . Around 10 , 000 people worked on the site . On February 16 , 1932 the first airplane , a Polikarpov U - 2 used the site . Reportedly that same day the school was renamed the Engels School of Pilots . By 1936 the Engels military aviation school was one of the best flight schools in the country . Students flew Polikarpov U - 2 , Polikarpov R - 5 and CSS aircraft . Prior to the Second World War the school trained several thousand pilots . Many of them fought in the Spanish Civil War , participated in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol and the Soviet - Finnish War ( 1939 – 1940 ) . For participation in the fighting seven pupils were named Heroes of the Soviet Union . At the beginning of the Second World War the school had in service Polikarpov U - 2 , ANT - 40 , Pe - 2 , and others aircraft . During the war years the Engels Flying School sent to the front 14 regiments . Among them were three women ' s regiments ( including the Night Witches ) , in which served Major Marina Raskova . 190 pupils of the school were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for combat exploits . In the early 1950s , the construction of the new " Engels - 2 " airport with a concrete runway with a length of 3 km and a width of 100m was begun , and therefore , by September 1954 the Engels school was moved to the city of Tambov . On December 15 , 1954 , the 201st Heavy Bomber Aviation Division was established , comprising the 79th , 1096th and 1230th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiments ( TBAPs ) . The personnel of the regiments was assembled by choosing the best specialists of the Long Range Aviation , graduates of military schools and academies . The first Myasishchev M - 4 bombers arrived in Engels on February 28 , 1955 . In May 1957 the first modernised 3M bomber arrived . In 1957 , the 79th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment was transferred to Ukrainka and was transferred to the 73rd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division . Gradually the M - 4 and 3M bombers were converted into aerial refuelling tankers . Air refueling significantly increased the range of the bombers , which expanded their capacity . Around 1960 , the 1230th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment was renamed the 1230th Aviation Regiment Air Refueling . The 3M bombers were part of Long Range Aviation until 1985 , and then were destroyed in accordance with the agreement on the reduction of offensive weapons . The 3MS - II and 3MN - II , converted into tankers , were in service for much longer – up to the end of 1993 and before being replaced by the more advanced Il - 78 . The base was to have received the first production Tu - 160 in 1987 but it went to Priluki , whose units had Tupolev Tu - 22M experience . The first three Tu - 160s not at Pryluky were incorporated into the 1096th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment in 1992 . By 1994 Engels had five Tu - 160 bombers in operation , and that same year the 1096th Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment was redesiganted the 121st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment , adopting its colours and traditions . In 1998 the START I treaty exchange of information had shown it had 20 operational Tupolev Tu - 95 bombers and six Tu - 160 bombers , all with cruise missile capability . From 1999 to 2001 the base received eight Tu - 160s from Ukraine paid for by gas price reductions . The last two arrived on 21 February 2001 . The 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment was reformed at the base on 1 September 2000 , drawing on Tu - 95MS aircraft transferred from Mozdok . By 2007 the base had 14 Tu - 160 bomber s , 20 Tu - 95 bombers and an unknown number of Tu - 22M bombers . Aircraft . As of 2007 , the base had : The 22nd Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the 37th Air Army controlled operations at the base up until the Air Force reorganisation of 2009 – 10 .