Rzhevskiy artillery range, Artillery training ground in Vsevolozhskiy district, Russia.
Rzhevskiy artillery range is a military training facility in Leningrad Oblast that features multiple terrain types suitable for gunnery exercises and weapons testing. The site contains firing positions, observation posts, and measurement systems for evaluating artillery accuracy and performance.
Founded in 1854 as the Main Artillery Range of the Russian Imperial Army, it first occupied one experimental battery at Volkovo Field. The present site, about 16 km of the Okhta Field up to the Toksovo heights, was assigned to the naval department in 1863, and the range began operating in 1879. In 1938 it became the Artillery Scientific Research Experimental Range; during the Siege of Leningrad it fired its first combat shots on 29 August 1941 from a 406-mm B-37 naval gun and its last on 10 June 1944.
The range's name comes from Rzhevka, the historic settlement and road at its western edge. The Irinovskaya narrow-gauge railway, opened in 1892, ran along the northern side of the Ryabovo zemstvo road, and its Poligon and Kovalyovo stations stood on land leased from the range. The 305-mm gun of 1914 and the 406-mm B-37 naval gun are the best-known pieces left on the test field.
The facility is not open to the general public and operates exclusively for authorized military personnel. Any visits require special permission and are subject to strict security protocols.
The site features specialized measurement systems and observation posts to analyze accuracy and effectiveness of fire. This infrastructure allows detailed evaluations of weapons performance during exercises.
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