| In 2020, I created an extensive webpage about the USAFE TAB-VEE shelters and their genesis. A similar page describing the Soviet aircraft shelters would be a logical next step, but it requires a lot of research. Maybe the information shown below will be the kernel for such an article. |
In the old notes from my aircraft spotting years, I found this drawing with text. It's around 30 years old, and unfortunately I forgot who gave it to me. But I thought it was too unique not to show to a wider audience. Here's an automated translation. One comment is that the 'mufflers' could be intake and exhaust covers - oh the joys of a double translation :-)
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| Templin had forty AU-13 (also: '2A/13') shelters, with AU short for А́рочное укры́тие, Arocnye Ukrytija, arched shelter. Although the shelter layout drawing is more of a sketch, I wanted to check whether it resembles an AU-13. It has a floor area of 12.8 by 28 meters, and when I scaled the drawing to that size, a similarly scaled Su-17 drawing agreed with the span of the misshapen aircraft in the original drawing.
I remember the shelters at Allstedt, another Su-17 base, that had rails installed on the floor, to guide the main wheels and avoid wing tip contact. The book 'Rote Plätze' reports that Allstedt had forty AU-11 (also: '2/11') shelters, that have a floor area of 10.8 by 20 meters, designed to house a MiG-21 and Su-7. Just maybe, a Su-17 with 10.04 meters span could be shoe-horned in? I drew that in green, and theoretically it seems possible. The Su-17s were gone when we 'inspected' the base, so I do not know whether they really parked them in the AU-11 shelters. But I do remember it looked like they had been used until recently. I also remember a winch cable, completely rolled out. I wonder now whether a winch was standard equipment in a Soviet shelter? It's not shown in the Templin sketch. |
| While making the above sketch, I remembered the shelters at Allstedt. Allstedt was another Su-17 base, that had shelters with rails installed on the floor, to guide the main and nose wheels and avoid wing tip contact. The book 'Rote Plätze' reports that Allstedt had forty AU-11 (also: '2/11') shelters, that have a floor area of 10.8 by 20 meters, designed to house MiG-21 and Su-7. Just maybe, a Su-17 with 10.04 meters span could be shoe-horned in? Here's my only slide of an Allstedt shelter, made in the evening light.
The Su-17s were gone when we 'inspected' the base, so I do not see them actually parked in the AU-11 shelters. But I do remember it looked like they had been used until recently. I also remember a winch cable, completely rolled out. I wonder now whether a winch was standard equipment in a Soviet shelter? It's not shown in the Templin sketch. | 
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| A close-up of the rails. It looks like the nose wheel ran inside a channel, and the main wheels outboard of an angle. There was a discontinuation for the heavy doors. but it seems the rails continue inside the shelter. That's how I remember it too.
As for the location, I think I remember it was the shelter at the extreme east side of the east-side flightline, at 51°23'5.41"N 11°27'24.65"E. |
| Team mate Michael made this slide, showing our rental car and shelter number 06, plus two more shelters in the distance. Location is the west end of the west-side flightline, at 51°22'46.74"N 11°25'50.45"E. Shelter '06' also has the guide rails. | 
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| In turn, I made a slide showing the east end of the west-side flightline. |
Baureihe 08 - Typ AU with CAD models of AU-11, 13.1, 13.2, 16.1 and 16.2
| Shelters with hinged doors were not seen in the GDR. Location is unknown.
From Sukhoi Su-15 Interceptor | 
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| The thickness of the doors can be seen well in this shot. As is the recess into which the doors fall when closed.
This appears to be a Su-15 sans suffix (single nose wheel) so span should be 8.62 meters (Su-15TM is 9.34 meters). Length could be an issue at 20.54 meters + pitot boom - an AU-11 equivalent would be too short. From Sukhoi Su-15 Flagon (Rare Videos 3) |
| This shelter lacks a 'front wall', and consequently is not covered by sand / earth, since it's not retained by that front wall.
The doors seen in this screenshot have vertical welds instead of horizontal ones. From Sukhoi Su-15 Interceptor | 
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| This shelter also lacks a 'front wall', and we see the bare concrete structure as a consequence.
The door seen on the right is much thinner than the ones seen above. From Sukhoi Su-15 Interceptor |
| Location is unknown, but the sandy surroundings point to a very southern air base. Just maybe the photo above was made from the shelter in the left-bottom corner. However, that shelter appears to be sand-covered.
From Sukhoi Su-15 Interceptor | 
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| This shot shows how wide the 'front wall' is, both on the left of the picture, as on the right.
From Sukhoi Su-15 Interceptor |
| Another shelter with hinged doors that fall into a recess. The circular 'front wall' is unusual.
From The SU-15 Flagon Was The Psycho Killer Of The Cold War | 
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| More shelters with hinged doors. The one seen on the left is rather thin.
From The SU-15 Flagon Was The Psycho Killer Of The Cold War |
| This screenshot is from a documentary about the '1521st Center for Combat Employment' at at Maryy-1 (or Mary-1) air base, now Turkmenistan (37°39'47.85"N 61°49'41.91"E). But that base doesn't have shelters. Still, the horizontally hinged doors are very unusual.
From What Was The Soviet Approach to Fighter Pilot Training | 
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