Engels Air Force Base is a strategic air base in Russia located 14 km east of Saratov. Engels is a major bomber operations base, and is Russia's sole operating location for the Tu-160 Blackjack. The base contains a 3500 m runway and about 10 large revetments.Engels Air Base is the headquarter of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Air Division "Donbass" which operates the Tu-160 long-range bombers.

In 1970, Engels Air Force Base was only one of six Soviet bases capable of handling the oversized Myasishchev bomber. By 1994 Engels Air Force Base had five Tu-160 bombers in operation. In 1998 the START-1 treaty had shown it had 20 operational Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear) bombers and six Tu-160 bombers, all with cruise missile capability.