Spassk-Dalny was primarily a Soviet Air Defence Forces (PVO) interceptor airfield for defending against Western aircraft, with the 821st Fighter Aviation Regiment (11th Independent Air Defence Army) based here.

[2] A 1966 satellite overflight spotted 21 Tu-16 Badger, 18 Su-7 Fitter, 21 Yak-28 Firebar, and 2 MiG-15 Fagot at this airfield.

[3] The CIA in 1969 identified the Firebar aircraft as the nearest potential threat to SR-71 operations over North Korea.

[4] The base's role diminished in the 1970s with the deployment of advanced MiG-25 Foxbat aircraft at Chuguyevka 60 miles (100 km) to the southeast.

In 1985 the CIA reported that Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23P (Flogger-G) and the training variant MiG-23U (Flogger-C) were crated at Spassk-Dalny and sent to Cam Ranh Base in Vietnam.