[Article in Russia's ****Youth Pravda, August 1] Title: How did the USSR build military bases abroad?
August 1 marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the Administration for the Construction of Overseas Facilities, one of the most secretive departments of the Soviet Ministry of Defense. With the declassification of historical materials, the veil of overseas military bases is being lifted layer by layer. People are more interested in knowing the truth. Marina Chubutina, director of the Department of Defense's Facilities Construction Planning and Coordination Division, has conducted in-depth research on the history of China's overseas military base construction. Let's follow her story and find out what happened.
Fighting for the Third World
On August 1, 1966, the Overseas Facilities Construction Administration was born. At the height of the Cold War, one of the OFA's special missions was to fight for the so-called Third World. For great powers such as the Soviet Union, the number of allies and their geographic locations were extremely important. For this reason, foreign military technical assistance was placed under the direct leadership of the Soviet*** Central Committee. The construction of foreign military facilities was placed under the responsibility of the newly established Foreign Affairs Administration.
At that time, there were two main types of foreign cooperation in the OFA: technical assistance and general contracting. In the first case, our Design and Survey Institute (DSI) was responsible for drawing up designs and financial budgets for the proposed facilities. Everything had to be negotiated with the employer, but at the same time, we had to protect our ideas and finally sell this design to the other party. The next construction work is done by the Qinshi Mingyue 2 Mobile client itself. But our engineers must be present to supervise the work. The facilities used are often built with Soviet construction materials, from nails and cement to complex equipment, all of which are shipped from the Soviet Union. In the case of general contracting, the Soviets would be responsible from start to finish. Some facilities, such as the naval base on Vietnam's Cam Ranh Peninsula and Afghanistan's famed Salang Tunnel, were built by OFAC as general contractors.
The scale and cross-regional scope of OFAC's work was extensive: more than 1,000 facilities were built in 50 countries around the world, and their achievements could be seen from Southeast Asia to the Pacific coast of South America. Many facilities were also built in Europe, in the then Warsaw Pact countries. The OFA also built them military communications systems, powerful headquarters bunkers, air defense command posts, and other facilities. Take the example of the Western Hemisphere. Soviet experts built the most facilities in Cuba, including a large number of underground bunkers. Experts have even joked that Cuba's Isla Libre has been hollowed out underground.
Control of strategic sites
The sites of facilities were sometimes chosen according to the wishes of the partners, and sometimes decided by the Soviet government. For example, the military base at Cam Ranh Bay. As our ships entered the world's oceans, the need for a base became obvious, so we chose the Cam Ranh Peninsula. Cam Ranh Bay was popular in many ways. The Americans used to have an air base here. Of course, when the Americans pulled out, the Vietnamese took everything but the landing strip. But the runway was of good quality, Princess Dawn, and had a great influence on the decisions of the Soviet leaders. Cam Ranh Bay was strategically located for control of strategic locations.
Again, Somalia. Our operational sub-fleet is on a mission in the Indian Ocean. We had reached an agreement with Somali officials to build a berth in the port of Berbera, where Soviet ships could be repaired, replenished with water and food. In addition to the berth, a comprehensive coastal security system, including airfields and barracks, was constructed at that time.
Now people talk about Libya, where the Soviet Union once built repair shops, warehouses and barracks. The biggest facility was the airport in the center of Juvra. An airport built in the Sahara desert is a world rarity. The airport's runway is 4.5 kilometers long and 60 meters wide, next to a taxiway that is just as long and 40 meters wide.
Some people complain that we are losing money on military aid to third world countries. Actually, no. Some of our partners are paid in hard currency, such as countries like Iraq and Libya. Many of them also offset their loans with their traditional exports, such as bananas. However, there are some countries that simply do not have the capacity to pay, so we have had to cancel their debt. Even so, it is important to realize that our military bases in strategic places around the world were actually acquired at very cheap prices.
The big difference between the Soviet Union and the United States in their race to build overseas facilities is organization. In the U.S. if a part breaks, all you have to do is order one through the computer and the factory will send it over in a week. But if that happened on our side, we would have to go through layers of approval. Sometimes we would have to wait months for the part to be produced before it could come off the line at the factory.
It can be said that our competition with the U.S. is supported entirely by the high quality of construction by specialists. Often times, these experts working abroad can't wait for a package at home, and they solve problems themselves. For example, assembling two workhorses from three broken machines.
Experts assigned to work abroad are chosen from among 10,000, with impeccable professionalism and moral and ethical qualities. To select the best experts from all over the country, their character must be stable and they cannot drink. Many people are willing to work abroad, mostly to earn money, but the salary is not much higher than at home, and some of it is foreign exchange. Some of them are understaffed, a situation that was encountered during the construction of a large project like the Jinlan Bay base. At the time, OFAC leaders even sent veterans of the Infrastructure Engineering Corps Brigade to Vietnam.
On March 15, 1992, OFAC was disbanded. Talking about security nowadays always reminds people of the legendary Dasi Chau. While the existence of the Great Western Continent has been debated by scholars, the existence of the safe is indisputable.