 In October 1972 a US reconnaissance satellite assessment showed 17 Yak-28P long-range interceptors, 2 Antonov An-24 Coke transports, and 1 Lisunov Li-2 Cab (DC-3 copy) transport.By the 1980s Smirnykh was home to a MiG-23 (Flogger-G) interceptor regiment An ICAO report on the 1983 downing of Korean Air Flight 007 indicated PVO (Soviet Anti-Air Defense) MiG-23 fighter aircraft from Smirnykh were scrambled, but it was an Su-15 jet from Dolinsk-Sokol which carried out the shootdown.The airfield is no longer in use and the runways have not been maintained in decades.