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Skrunda-1
EntityQ807670· pop 10· linked from 26 articles

Also known as Skrunda radar station, Skrunda-2, Lidumnieki

Mežaine, officially Military training area Mežaine (), is a Latvian National Armed Forces military training area of the 4th Brigade of the Latvian National Guard in Raņķi Parish, Kuldīga Municipality near the town of Skrunda. The military training area consists of a former ghost town, variously known as Skrunda-1, Skrunda-2, Lokators or Līdumnieki, and the surrounding area. The ghost town was built in the 1960s to house Soviet military personnel serving at two Soviet Dnepr radar (NATO designation "Hen House") installations at the site. Following the Soviet collapse in 1991, the Russian militar

Key facts

Military installation.name
Mežaine
Military installation.native_name
Militārais poligons Mežaine
Military installation.location
Raņķi, Latvia
Military installation.map_type
Latvia
Military installation.type
military training area
Military installation.builder
Latvia
Military installation.garrison
4th Brigade of Latvian National Guard

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
ghost town
Country
Latvia
Population
0
Image
Скрунда, военныи городок.jpg
Show 3 more facts
inception
1963-00-00
dissolved, abolished or demolished date
1998-00-00
Commons category
Skrunda Military Base
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

4 sections
Contents
  • Soviet military installation
  • Ghost town
  • References
  • External links

Mežaine, officially Military training area Mežaine (), is a Latvian National Armed Forces military training area of the 4th Brigade of the Latvian National Guard in Raņķi Parish, Kuldīga Municipality near the town of Skrunda. The military training area consists of a former ghost town, variously known as Skrunda-1, Skrunda-2, Lokators or Līdumnieki, and the surrounding area. The ghost town was built in the 1960s to house Soviet military personnel serving at two Soviet Dnepr radar (NATO designation "Hen House") installations at the site. Following the Soviet collapse in 1991, the Russian military continued to operate the site until it withdrew completely from Latvia in 1998; the radar stations were torn down, the buildings were abandoned, and the site is now reserved by the Latvian government for use in urban warfare training.

== Soviet military installation == In the 1960s, two Soviet Dnepr radar (NATO designation "Hen House") installations were constructed at the site near the town of Skrunda. A Daryal radar was being built there before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The installation was strategically important to the Soviet Union as its radars covered Western Europe. The two barn-like radars were one of the most important Soviet early warning radar stations for listening to objects in space and for tracking possible incoming ICBMs.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Skrunda-1” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)

On the map

2 mapped locations