The US Air Force's Secret Squadron of Soviet Fighter Jets



After being selected for a top-secret project, a recent graduate pilot, and top of his class, rose to the skies aboard a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II for his first exercise. However, as he was flying above the safe Nevada desert, he soon noticed that a MiG-21 was trailing behind him.

Startled, the pilot scoured his cockpit searching for a way to down the enemy.

What he didn’t know was that these fighters were secretly acquired by the United States Air Force in an effort to learn more about Soviet aircraft engineering.

Barely anyone was aware that the Western superpower had a secret squadron made up of Soviet fighters in combat service.

Especially not the Soviet Union.

Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between.

As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.

All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.

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47 thoughts on “The US Air Force's Secret Squadron of Soviet Fighter Jets”

  1. things like this is what makes giving ukraine all of these weapons is scary. inevitably you will get a missle, or a bomb that doesnt explode, or get a broken down vehicle unattainable for recovery in a retreat, thus giving enemies such as russia or china, some of the highest tech, and most expensive in money and time, which gives them the relatively easy task or reverse engineering, and evening up the playing field almost immediately

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  2. These are good. Can you do an extended Christmas special that I can watch while the wife watches her rubbish ,I might have a cigar and brandy at the same time .
    If I keep the windows open she will never know ,

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  3. At an airshow at Purdue in late spring 1971 or 1972, we had a Blue Angels performance.

    Those suckers flew directly at each other, not more than 100 feet above our heads, and rolled 90 degrees each a different way so as to not collide, passing belly to belly with wings pointed at the ground and sky. It was extraordinary; exhilarating, and SCARED THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME!

    I'd wager they don't do THAT kinda stuff any longer. There were thousands of people beneath them as they did that maneuver.

    One little tick of the stick, and you have a thousand casualties?

    No. I'm sure they no longer do that. An OH SHIT such as that would ruin them forever.

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  4. The need now is to make those Chinese J-16, J-20 available. Soviet or Russian made are not too difficult since there are so many users who willingly trade with the West, whether by states that switched side or via capture in war.

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  5. Captured aircraft is a fascinating subject but difficult to find information on. Rumours of a Tomcat reaching Russian via Iran, blurry photos of an SU-27 over Groom lake etc.. East Germanys MIG-29s were in great demand after reunification for mock dogfights against western types. Not to mention the story's about ww2 Luftwaffe operating US and British types. More like this please.

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  6. Someone Needs to Make a SERIES ABOUT “RED EAGLES,”
    From Concept Planing & Beginnings.
    Acquiring & Making Deals for USSR MIG’s?
    Hunting down Best of the Best Air-force & Navy Pilots.
    Training & Scaring Elite Fighter Squadrons?
    Maybe Throw in A COUPLE DRUNK CRAZY RUSSIAN PILOTS?

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  7. nothing new we also have or had a stock of cold war Russian surface to air missiles watched them being tested at Wallops Island some years back the testing wasnt about the missiles it was about whether they would launch off our launchers if ever called upon to be used by us

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  8. the surprising thing these days is more likely the number of "canceled" programs that are or have been used actively. It is somewhat shocking to drive past some hangars in a war zone and see a wing of aircraft that you know were canceled a decade earlier and there were only supposed to be two in museums.

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