It appeared in June 1966 KH-7 imagery with a runway length of 2,000 m. It was expanded sometime after this to 2,500 m with a new extension of revetments added.

The base was originally built near the town of Smirnykh, a coaling and watering station for the Sakhalin railway.

The airfield was built by the Imperial Japanese Army in the early 20th century and was called Keton.

After the Second World War, Southern Sakhalin was handed over to the Soviet Union, and the airbase was then expanded.

[2] By the 1980s Smirnykh was home to a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (ASCC: Flogger-G) interceptor regiment[3] An ICAO report on the 1983 downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 indicated Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) MiG-23 fighter aircraft from Smirnykh were scrambled, but it was an Sukhoi Su-15 (ASCC: Flagon) jet from Dolinsk-Sokol which carried out the shootdown.