Plus, I kind of suspect that maintaining aircraft outdoors when there’s sleet coming down or whatever is no fun.

And I dunno what they do when hail comes. Maybe that’s not as much of a thing in Russia.

checks map

Ah, apparently the Great Plains in the US are pretty much the global center of hailstorms, so I guess that they dodged that one.

https://eos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2019RG000665-Figure-21-map-and-legend-sized-for-Eos-800-wide.png

kagis

It sounds like they are, in fact, building a number of them, so maybe they’ve done the same calculus and come to the same conclusion.

This move follows increased threats from Ukrainian attack drones and missiles. According to sources, the hangars are intended to protect aircraft from ATACMS ballistic missile submunitions. Additionally, these structures prevent satellites and other optical detection systems from determining whether a hangar is empty or occupied, enhancing operational security.