It is located in Chuguyevsky District, near the towns of Chuguyevka and Bulyga-Fadeyevo, 190 kilometers (120 mi) north-east of Vladivostok.

The airbase was built by the Soviet Union with the primary objective of scrambling aircraft against Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird flights over Vladivostok.

[1] During the 1960s, Chuguyevka housed Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (ASCC: Fresco) aircraft, and by 1972 a CIA analysis listed 43 MiG-17 "Fresco" interceptors and 10 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 UTI (ASCC: Midget) trainers operating at this airfield.

[2] By the 1970s as SR-71 flights became an issue of concern, the base was assigned 36 new Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25P (NATO: Foxbat) planes.

This incident was a major security breach for the Soviet Union, and one of the most publicized defections of the Cold War.