Today, there are no military air bases in Ukraine, which is a crisis of the state leadership's policy from 1992 to 2013, because the development of aviation is the basic guarantee of the country's defence capability: superiority in the air during war is decisive for the further course of hostilities, as it allows to control objects of civil and critical infrastructure, which are the basis of the functioning of the state and its army.
The article differentiates between the concepts of "military airfield" and "military air base" and offers its interpretation of the term "military air base" based on the functional content and specifics of such an object, which involves the combination of a military airfield complex, transport infrastructure with a developed public block - a pilot training centre, catering, sports and cultural leisure zone, personnel living area, medical support, - and implementation of active and passive protection and masking systems.
Based on the analysis of the existing state of military airfields in Ukraine, and domestic normative documents regarding their design, the necessity of designing a military air base on the territory of Ukraine was substantiated and the main factors affecting the location, functional, architectural, planning and security solution of such a complex were investigated, the specifics were analyzed its functioning depending on the social and political conditions in the state.
Therefore, the need to design a ground-based military air base in Ukraine is substantiated by the possibility of implementing such an object in remote territories from the demarcation line with the enemy and the implementation of effective measures to mask the construction process itself, the underground location of buildings and structures of the complex or their integration into the existing terrain. The large area and variety of landscapes of Ukraine provide the possibility of a wide choice of territory for the location of the air base, taking into account all the necessary factors, which is the safest option for Ukraine in the modern context of war.
The results of the research can be the basis for further scientific research and practical implementation during the construction of such objects to solve tasks of defensive nature and strengthen the military capacity of Ukraine.