Secret MiGs Flown By the USAF
The US Flew Dozens of MiG Fighters in a Classified Cold War Project
During the late, great Cold War the US flew a number of "acquired" MiG fighters in a secret program over the deserts of Nevada.
In 1953 North Korean pilot, Lieutenant No Kum-Sok, defected with his shiny new Soviet built MiG-15, and for doing so received $100,000.This aircraft was test-flown by renowned test pilot Chuck Yeager and began a trend that was to last nearly forty years. Within three years no less than four Polish pilots flew their MiG-15s to freedom. In August 1966 an Iraqi fighter pilot, Captain Munir Redfa, flew his shiny new MiG-21 to Israel after being ordered to attack Iraqi Kurd villages with napalm. This fighter found itself in the deserts of the western US within a month. In 1968 the US Air Force and Navy jointly formed a project known as Have Donut in which they flew this 'acquired' Soviet made MiG-21F-13 (designated a YF-110) in simulated air combat training at a top secret facility in Nevada known as Groom Lake. Groom Lake, also referred to as Area-51, was the birthplace of the SR71 and F117 as well as other projects that remain to be discussed. In 1969 two ex-Iraqi MiG-17s transferred from Israeli stocks were added to the operation and it was renamed Have Drill. These aircraft were given US designations and fake serial numbers so that they may be identified in DOD standard flight logs. At least one more MIG-21 was captured in Vietnam and a MiG-25 flown by defector Soviet Pilot Viktor Belenko was turned over but had to be sent back. In May 1973, Project Have Idea was formed which took over from the older Have Donut, Have Ferry and Have Drill projects. In July 1975, the 4477th TEF (“Red Eagles”) was formed at Nellis AFB and in December 1977 the 6513th Test Squadron (“Red Hats”) was formed at Edwards AFB to continue testing these craft. Some aggressor training was done where the units went head to head against USAF fighters in mock dogfights at this time to find out and exploit possible weaknesses.
In 1980 the 4477th TEF was made a full-fledged squadron and the operation was renamed again to Constant Peg. It developed realistic combat training operations featuring adversary tactics, dissimilar air combat training, and electronic warfare. Over the years more aircraft were acquired until they numbered about two dozen including ultra modern MiG-23s (designated YF-113s). Egypt was thought to turn over a number of un-needed MiGs but planes kept coming in from other sources as well. No less than three Cuban pilots brought their MiGs to Florida. A number of Chinese made MiGs were purchased outright from China via the front company Combat Core Certification Professionals Company (CCCP!) and imported in crates. Three Syrians flew their MiG-23 and MiG-29s to Turkey in 1988 followed by Soviet Captain Alexander Zuyev in 1989. The first thing Captian Zuyev said after stepping out of the cockpit of his MiG-29 was that: "I'll be an American!"
The American flyers of these aircraft had to contend with un-maintainable and mysterious planes as they had no spare parts or technical manuals available. Ground crews had to resort to reverse engineering aircraft components and manufacturing them from raw materials just to keep them in the air. US pilots found out first hand how dangerous these aircraft were and two lost their lives in catastrophic crashes. They did, however, learn the strengths and weakness of the Warsaw Pact's fast movers and this information would prove to be invaluable to NATO fliers in any sort of East/West engagement. This was proven in air to air combat every time these Soviet Cold War era aircraft have been encountered in Iraq, Libya, Angola and elsewhere.
The 4477th flew its last MiGs in 1990 and with the end of the Cold War was deactivated. The 6513th which had stopped flying MiGs in the early eighties was inactivated in 1992. In 2006, the Constant Peg program was declassified and the USAF held a series of press conferences about the former top secret US MiGs. It was revealed that the US MiGs flew more than 15,000 sorties and nearly 7,000 aircrew flew in training against dissimilar aggressors in the Nevada desert between 1980 and the end of the program in 1988. These included the 'real' MiGs as well as US made A4 and T-38/F5 aircraft visually modified to be 'fake' MiGs. The Groom Lake facility still exists (unofficially, of course).
Today you can buy (slightly used) Soviet made MiGs on eBay as well as other sites. The price generally runs about $20,000 with "a spare jet engine, other spare parts, missile hanger brackets, a booklet of instructions, a radio station, GPS wireless set" included.
Sources
Constant Peg by Peter Grier, April 2007 issue of Air Force Magazine
Wings of Fury, Robert Wilcox 1996
