Air International 2007-04
J.Lake - Red Stars over America /Military/
While secrecy has surrounded the US military's use of some Russian aircraft, in other cases it is happy to show them to the public. This Antonov An-2 is pictured at Holloman AFB airshow in 2002. The aircraft type is used alongside a number of helicopters by the US Army's Operational Test & Evaluation Command to provide realistic training.
Signalling how much has changed since the end of the Cold War, Russian transport aircraft and their crews are now occasionally chartered by the US military to provide extra airlift capacity. This Volga-Dnepr Airlines An-124 is pictured at the US air base at Mildenhall on one of these flights.
A Russian helicopter type used by the US Army's OPTEC is the Mil Mi-24 Hind. This aircraft, 88-0616, is pictured taking part in an exercise from MCAS Yuma, Arizona
The defection of North Korean pilot Lt No Kum-Sok in a MiG-15 gave the US its first chance to examine and fly the Soviet fighter. The aircraft was flown from South Korea to Okinawa (where it is pictured) before being shipped to the US.
Incredibly, the US managed to obtain two MiG-17s due to a navigational error when two Syrian Air Force pilots landed in Israel by mistake. The aircraft, coded 055, was evaluated under the name Have Drill, while 002 was Have Ferry
It was not until Egypt supplied the US with a large number of MiGs in 1979 that sufficient aircraft became available to establish the Constant Peg training programme. This MiG-17 is believed to be one of these aircraft and is pictured at Wright-Patterson AFB in early 1988. It is now on display in National Museum of the USAF, wearing the markings of a North Vietnamese aircraft.
Угнанный МиГ-21 на испытаниях в США
From the earliest days of the Cold War, the US sought to obtain Soviet aircraft to evaluate their capabilities. The USAF tested this former Iraqi Air Force MiG-21 between January 23 and April 8, 1968: it was given the codename Have Doughnut
A US Navy F-4 and F-8 fly in formation with the Have Doughnut MiG-21. Virtually every US combat aircraft of the time was pitted against this Russian fighter.
One USAF flying unit which openly acknowledges its use of Russian-built aircraft is the 6th Special Operations Squadron, based at Hurlburt Field, Florida. Its official role is to train allied airforces and for this it has a number of aircraft types, including this Mil-8 and UH-1N.
Последний МиГ-29УБ ВВС Молдовы б/н 61
To prevent Iran acquiring 14 MiG-29s from Moldova in 1997, the US acquired the aircraft. The Fulcrums were transported to America, though there are no reports of them being flown or evaluated by US pilots.