Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, August 2022.
Towards the end of August 2022, Slovak MiG-29s made their final military flights during the Slovak International Air Fest over Malacky-Kuchyňa Air Base. Although they had been recently upgraded with NATO standard equipment, and were expected to be in use until 2035, the Ukraine Crisis resulted in the sudden/hasty retirement of the MiG 29s.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, August 2022.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic, August 2022.
A recent U.S./NATO sponsored air defense agreement between Czech Republic (now known by the wimpy name of Czechia), Poland and Republic of Slovakia, will have Slovak air space defended by Czechia’s Swedish made JAS-39 Gripens and Poland’s U.S. made F-16s, until Slovakia is equipped with U.S. made F-16s (in 2018 Slovakia agreed to buy 14 F-16 Block 70/72 from NATO-United States).
Military personnel of Slovakia and the United States pose in front of a Cold War MiG 29 ‘Gate Guard’ on Sliač Air Base, Slovakia, 28JUL2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Savannah L. Waters.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
For more proof that the MiG 29 was to be in use for at least another decade, in November 2018 the Slovak government decided to continue operating the MiG 29 until all the expected F-16 Block 70/72s were delivered. But now, Slovkia’s eleven recently NATO upgraded MiG-29s are just hanging around, waiting for so-called NATO guidance on their fate.
MiG-29UB trainer. Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
It should be realized that the Czech-o-Slovakia was an artificial country created by the British empire led victors of World War One. During the lead-up to World War Two, Germany became the so called protectorate of the area of Czechia, while an independent Slovak State was declared. After that war, the victorious Soviet Union forced the two back together as the Czech-o-Slovakia.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
After the unofficial Cold War unofficially ended, former Warsaw Pact member Czech-o-Slovakia split up, into the Czech Republic and Republic of Slovakia. Slovakia took 24 MiG-29s as part of the divorce from Czechia and as part of payment of debt owed by the former Soviet Union.
Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
In the past few years, Slovakia embarked on a program to convert its military to NATO standards, one of those actions included sending four fighter pilots to the United States to train on F-16 Falcons, in 2020.
Slovak MiG 29 flies with two Indiana Air Guard ‘BlackSnakes’ A-10C Thunderbolt-2s, 27JUL2016. Indiana Air National Guard Photo by Staff Sergeant William Hopper.
A Slovak MiG 29 flies alongside a Czech JAS 39. Photo via Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic.
Nebraska Air National Guard video, September 2013; a Nebraska Air Guard KC-135 refuels a Czech JAS 39 Gripen over Slovakia, while a Slovak MiG 29 Fulcrum plays the bad guy and ‘intercepts’ the ‘invaders’:
Tiger Meet Mig 29UB. Photo via Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky, (Mo Sr).
Photo via Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky, (Mo Sr).
23mm gun-smoke. Photo via Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky, (Mo Sr).
2008 Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky (Mo Sr) video, pilot talks about flying the MiG 29:
F-15A number one rolled out of the Saint Louis, Missouri, factory. Notice it does not yet have the DayGlo orange paint applied. McDonnell-Douglas photo, 26JUN1972.
McDonnell-Douglas F-15A number one gets packed aboard a Lockheed C-5A Galaxy, for its trip to Edwards Air Force Base, California.
McDonnell-Douglas photo of the first flight of F-15 number one, 27JUL1972. DayGlo paint not yet applied. Notice the shape of the wings and stabilators.
The first F-15A, #71-280, unveiled publicly after its first flight, July 1972, it now has the DayGlo paint applied. It was never called the YF-15 as several interweb sites say. From the beginning it was F-15 Eagle.
USAF promotional video, by Airman First Class Moses Taylor:
71-280 F-15A number one is now serving museum duty on Lackland AFB, Texas. However, it is painted to represent a different F-15.
This B-52 is carrying a 3/8th-scale F-15A drone, back then called a Remotely Piloted Research Vehicle (RPRV), 23OCT1973. This was done to test the possibility of stall-spins, before the real F-15A Eagles began their test flights.
The 12 contractor F-15As were used in Category I pre-production T&E, the eight USAF F-15As were used in Category IIpre-production T&E. They were never officially designated as prototypes or even called YF-15 (as some online sites say), they were officially called McAir F-1 (for the F-15A single seaters) and McAir F-2 (for the TF-15 two seaters). The Category I phase was later re-named Contractor Development, Test & Evaluation, the Category II phase was renamed Air Force Development, Test & Evaluation.
Installing a F-15 style intake on a J85 nacelle. NASA photo, 1975.
Photo via Edwards AFB photo shop. NASA’s F-15A 71-287 in 1976, testing the FMD version of Pratt & Whitney’s F-100. 287 would go on to test the HIDEC system, in the early 1990s.
I took this photo with a crappy little fixed focus 110 camera, in 1977.
This photo shows a T&E Eagle (possibly number one) with the straight edged stabilators. McDonnell-Douglas photo.
This photo shows the smaller speed/dive brake of pre-production aircraft F-15A number five (71-284). It was apparently the first F-15 to get the 20mm Vulcan gun, obviously not at the time this photo was made (due to lack of gun port). McDonnell-Douglas photo.
The pre-production T&E Eagles can be distinguished from later production Eagles by the shape of the wing tips, the shape of the elevators (officially called ‘snag stabilators’) and the size of the speed/dive brake. T&E F-15As had squared-off wing tips, stabilators that did not have a ‘dog tooth’, and had a smaller more rectangular speed/dive brake. However, several T&E F-15 Eagles were quickly updated with the snag stabilators, yet retained the original wing tips and small speed brake.
This photo shows one of the T&E Eagles updated with the snaggle toothed stabilators. USAF photo via the Edwards AFB photo shop, I got it in the mid-’70s but exact date it was made is unknown.
One of the T&E F-15s transferred to NASA, with original configuration wing tips and stabilators.
For kit builders, the first issue 1:72 scale Hasegawa, Revell U.S.A. and Monogram kits were based on the Category I McAir F-1 Eagles.
They were quickly revised once the final changes were established for the production F-15s.
The same T&E F-15, with the squared-off wing tips, but it has been updated with the dog-tooth elevators. NASA photo, 24FEB1978.
Development of the F-15A actually started in the late 1960s, it was designed as a pure dog-fighter, intended to replace the F-4 Phantom-2 in that role. The design was based on U.S. air combat experience over Viet Nam, and on incorrect assumptions about Soviet fighter development, especially the MiG-25 Foxbat.
The defected MiG 25P. This is the photo that inspired the artwork on Minicraft/Hasegawa’s black bordered box issue of their MiG 25 kit, in the late-1970s.
Before the defection of a Soviet pilot in a MiG-25P, to Japan in 1976, the ‘experts’ in the U.S. Department of Defense thought the Foxbat was a dog-fighter. The MiG-25 was actually a straight line Mach 3 bomber interceptor, it carried four long range anti-bomber missiles, and had no guns. Fortunately, the incorrect assumptions resulted in a still potent modern day dog-fighter (proven by the Israeli Air Force) that has also proved it excels at other forms of aerial combat.
TF-15A #71-290. Photo via the Edwards AFB photo shop. 290’s final mission would be as the NF-15B ACTIVE in the late 1990s.
I got this photo from the Edwards AFB photo shop in the mid-1970s. It is TF-15A/F-15B 71-291, which would go on to become the ‘demonstrator’ (mock-up) of the F-15E concept.
71-291 all gussied-up for the Bicentennial in July 1976, and flying over its birthplace of Saint Louis, Missouri. McDonnell-Douglas photo by Pat McManus.
Also in 1972, a combat capable trainer version was created called the TF-15A, but it was soon re-designated F-15B. The improved F-15C single seater, and the improved F-15D two seater, were created in 1979. Visually they all look the same as the improvements are internal.
Bare metal Streak Eagle, named because it was naked, not fast. In the 1970s there was a fad called streaking, which meant you got naked and ran as fast as you could through a public gathering. The insignia on the vertical tail was removed for the high speed runs.
Between 16JAN1975 and 01FEB1975, a bare metal F-15A nicknamed Streak Eagle, broke eight time-to-climb world records. It was then donated to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, in 1980, where it was painted to protect from corrosion:
The F-15 is used by Israel, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.
The second F-15A Eagle (71-0281) was turned over to NASA in February 1976. It was used in no less than 25 experiments which not only benefitted the USAF and NASA, but also the civilian airliner industry.
NASA F-15A #281 over the Mojave Desert, California, 03MAR1978.
This NASA F-15A Eagle was used to compare actual in-flight aerodynamic data to data collected from models in wind tunnels, 17MAY1978.
This is a NASA image showing what their proposed F-15-2D/STOL/MTD would look like, using NASA’s F-15B Eagle. The project would morph into the NF-15B ACTIVE program in the late 1990s.
Somewhere over NATO Norway, the Sun is setting on an F-4E Phantom-2, while its replacement, an F-15B Eagle flies in formation. USAF photo by Master Sergeant Edward Condon, 08MAR1982.
Potential satellite killer. An F-15 armed with the ASAT missile, sometime in 1983. USAF photo.
On Bitburg AFB, West Germany, an F-15D Eagle blows off steam, at full throttle in a ‘Baker Sound Suppressor Unit’. USAF photo by Jose Lopez Junior, November 1984.
An F-15A Eagle gets armed with an AIM-9 Sidewinder anti-aircraft missile, while taking part in wargames over Australia, 01OCT1985. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Marvin D. Lynchard.
An F-15B Eagle taxis past the then new air traffic control tower on Edwards AFB, sometime in the mid 1980s (1987?).
A pole dancing F-15C Eagle? It is mounted upside down on a pedestal at the Rome Air Development Center’s (aka USAF Super Lab) Newport, New York, test site. An external radar warning system pod mounted on the fuselage is being compared to the onboard radar warning system, 06OCT1988.
The ground attack F-15E Strike Eagle began service in 1989, however, the first production F-15E (86-183) came off the assembly line in 1986.
86-183, the first production F-15E.
At first it was just called the F-15E Dual Role Fighter, no Strike Eagle. They stenciled on the nose F-15E No. 1, to be clear that it is the first F-15E.
F-15E Strike Eagles, and a F-15C Eagle, are flanked by F-16s as they fly over burning oil wells, during Desert Storm in early 1991.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
NASA’s HIDEC (Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control) F-15A (NASA #835, USAF #71-287), Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB, California, February 1993.
A 53rd Fighter Squadron F-15C Eagle returns to Aviano Air Base, Italy, after a No-Fly-Zone mission over Bosnia-Herzegovina. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant David Mcleod, 12APR1993.
A 10% scale wind tunnel model of the F-15E Strike Eagle, used to test the viability of ‘pneumatic forebody controls’, September 1994.
Size comparison between USAF F-15C Eagle & E Strike Eagle, and a Slovak MiG-29 Fulcrum. According to the USAF, this was the first time F-15 Eagles and MiG-29s flew together. Photo by Technical Sergeant Brad Fallin, 25MAY1996.
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Esteban Esquivel, of Israeli F-15I Ra’am operations on Uvda Air Base, Israel, May 2017:
A Ukrainian flag behind the windshield of a California Air National Guard (CANG) F-15D Eagle, 26OCT2017. A Ukrainian General is in the front seat while a CANG Lieutenant Colonel is in the back seat, it was a flight promoting the military partnership of California and Ukraine. CANG photo by Senior Master Sergeant Chris Drudge.
Somewhere in the Middle East (South West Asia), September 2017 USAF video report about F-15E Strike Eagle operations against so-called Islamic State:
California Air National Guard (CANG) video, by Staff Sergeant Christian Jadot, of historical moment when for the first time California’s 144th Fighter Wing lands their F-15C & D Eagles on Starokostiantyniv Air Base, Ukraine, 06OCT2018 (it should be noted that it was not the first time for California to send aircraft to Ukraine, in 2011 the CANG sent F-16 Falcons):
On 04MAY2021, U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, based on the United Kingdom, conducted an “Independence Flyover” of the tiny NATO country of Latvia. Short video of F-15E getting refueled enroute to Latvia by Technical Sergeant Emerson Nuñez:
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Danielle Sukhlall, of Japanese F-15J Eagles operating from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, 07JUN2021:
A November 2021 USAF promo video, by Staff Sergeant River Bruce, states the F-15 series of aircraft has a long way to go before retirement:
In January 2022, at least six F-15E Strike Eagles (from Seymour Johnson Air Base, North Carolina) were deployed to NATO Belgium, for so-called air policing missions against Russia. Video via NATO:
February 2022:
Ämari Air Base, Estonia, U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Megan M. Beatty, 01FEB2022.
During the Cold War it was known as Mikoyan & Gurevich, hence MiG.
MiG 21, NATO reporting name Fishbed.
BULGARIA:
New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Moseley, 16JUL2015.
New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Moseley, 16JUL2015.
New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Moseley, 17JUL2015.
New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Moseley, 17JUL2015.
Apparently 2015 was the last year that Bulgaria operated the MiG-21.
CROATIA:
Minnesota Air National Guard Photo by Technical Sergeant Lynette Hoke, 05APR2019.
Minnesota Air National Guard Photo by Technical Sergeant Lynette Hoke, 05APR2019.
It is smaller than an F-16
Minnesota Air National Guard Photo by Technical Sergeant Lynette Hoke, 05APR2019.
Minnesota Air National Guard Photo by Technical Sergeant Lynette Hoke, 06APR2019.
Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia video of MiG 21s flying with French Rafales, 15MAR2022:
Croat MiG 21s with USAF Aviano Air Base F-16s on the Pleso/Zagreb Airport, 27MAR2022. Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia by T. Brandt.
Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia, on 17MAY2022 a MiG 21 was assigned ‘Gate Guard’ duty for the 30th Anniversary of a flight by Colonel Ivica Ivandić. This is a controversy in Croatia because there were other MiG 21s involved in that flight and those pilots were seemingly ignored:
ROMANIA, ‘Lancer’:
2014
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant R.J. Biermann, 17APR2014.
2015
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Armando A. Schwier-Morales, 17MAR2015.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Joe W. McFadden, 16APR2015.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant William A. Tanner, 22MAY2015.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant William A. Tanner, 26MAY2015.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Bruch, 23OCT2015.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Bruch, 23OCT2015.
2016
18MAR2016, Canadian Forces photo by Master Seaman (Master Sailor) Steeve Picard.
2017
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Jonathan Snyder, 29JUL2017.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Jonathan Snyder, 29JUL2017.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Jonathan Snyder, 29JUL2017.
26SEP2017, Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Daren Kraus.
2019
Romanian MiG 21s visited Serbia in October 2019. Photo via Ministry of Defence Republic of Serbia.
Ministry of Defence Republic of Serbia, 01OCT2019.
Ministry of Defence Republic of Serbia video, Romanian MiG 21s at the October 2019 International Air Exercise Air Solution meet:
28NOV2019. Canadian Forces photo by Leading Seaman (Sailor First Class) Erica Seymour.
28NOV2019. Canadian Forces photo by Leading Seaman (Sailor First Class) Erica Seymour.
NATO Channel video MiG-21 operations, cockpit view:
2022:
Romanian Ministry of National Defense video report from 04SEP2022, a pilot’s last flight in a MiG 21UB:
U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Eric Harris, 07APR2018.
In April 2018, an F-86 Saber (for some reason the USAF liked to use the British empire spelling of Sabre) tangled with a MiG-15 (NATO reporting name Fagot [as in the British empire slang for cigarette, not the U.S. slang for somebody living an ‘alternative lifestyle’]) over March Air Reserve Base in California.
USAF photo by Master Sergeant Eric Harris, 07APR2018.
I remember when it used to be March Air Force Base, and prior to the creation of the U.S. Air Force (a couple of years before the Korean conflict) it was called March Field by the U.S. Army.
March Air Reserve Base conducts the largest airshow in Riverside County and in April 2018 celebrated 100 years since March Field was established, and 70 years since it became a U.S. Air Force operation.
USAF photo by Senior Airman Kaylee Dubois, 16MAR2018.
In March 2018, the same Saber showed up at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station airshow, Arizona.
F-16 cockpit view video of F-86, over Davis-Monthan, Arizana, March 2015:
The F-86 calls Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Arizona, home. The plane is part of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation, and Davis-Monthan is home to the Heritage Flight Training Course.
Air show video:
U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sergeant Colin Broadstone, 05MAY2018.
In May 2018, a MiG 17 (NATO reporting name Fresco) invaded Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, in North Carolina.
USMC photo by Sergeant Colin Broadstone, 05MAY2018.
MiGs operating over the United States are privately owned (at least that’s what they tell us).
Radar equipped Shamsher leads U.S. Super Hornets and Indian Su-30MKIs. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Brandie Nuzzi, 28MAR2021.
Shamsher, MiG-29KUB and Su-30MKI, 23JUN2021, USN photo.
In the above photo notice the Indian two seat MiG-29KUBs are not simple trainers, but have full combat radar system and a different cockpit area.
In 2005, the U.S. Marines, and other NATO members, launched what they called a MiG-23 Bandit, in Egypt. It was built as a target drone for man-portable Stinger anti-aircraft missile training.
According to the info that came with these pics, five MiG-23 Bandits were launched, and all five were shot down during Exercise Bright Star.
According to the information that was issued with these pics, the MiG-23 Bandits were actually made and operated by a U.S. military contractor; Advanced Composite Manufacturing. There are several companies and ‘research’ organizations that use the words Advanced Composite Manufacturing in their names. There is also a company calling itself ACM/Advanced Composite Manufacturing. None of them have any info about the MiG-23 Bandit.
Video, MiG-23 Bandit launch & shoot-down:
A ‘BAT’ being prepped for duty on Fort Campbell, Kentucky. U.S. Army photo by Marshall W. Woods, 20FEB2002.
The U.S. Army calls it the BAT (Ballistic Aerial Target).
USMC photo by Lance Corporal Constantine Sigelakis, 24AUG1999.
In August 1999, the U.S. Army used a MiG-23 BAT to demonstrate its vehicle mounted Stinger missile system, known as Avenger, on Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, in North Carolina.
USMC photo by Sergeant A. D. Gruart, March 1986.
This photo is dated March 1986. It shows a MiG-23/27 ‘BAT/Bandit’ drone along with two Mi-24 Hind drones, on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
“In accordance with the combat training plan, the crews of MiG-31BM high-altitude fighters of the Pacific Fleet’s naval aviation based in Kamchatka held a training exercise to intercept a simulated intruder of Russia’s airspace in the stratosphere. For the first time ever, new upgraded MiG-31BM high-altitude interceptor-fighters took part in a dogfight at their service ceiling. The fighters flew at a speed of 2,500 km/h and an altitude of more than 20 km.”-Russian Pacific Fleet Naval Air Force, 19AUG2019
Worn looking MiG-31.
The simulated intruder was another MiG-31BM. The exercise involved scrambling a MiG-31BM to intercept, without using ground based radar to locate the intruder. It was meant to test the electronic upgrades completed in February 2019. The MiG-31BMs supposedly made six flights into the stratosphere during the mock dogfights.
Back in January 2018, the Russian Aerospace Force aviation center, in Nizhny Novgorod, made a similar high altitude dogfight claim.
In May 2019, it was announced the MiG-31K could launch hypersonic missiles, known as Kinzhal. It’s claimed the Kinzhal (dagger) can hit speeds up to Mach 10, with a range of more than 2000km (1242.7 miles).
POLAND SUKHOI 22
Czech-o-Slovakia’s DANA
Indian Navy Harrier
Flying with U.S. Navy Super Hornets, 2017.
Indian Navy Aérospatiale Alouette-3 (Chetak) over Goa, August 2017.
Onboard USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52).
In 2018, Indian P-8A Poseidon (militarized Boeing 737) took part in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
HAL license built Dornier 228 and Hawk-i, and HAL HTT-40, airshow Aero India 2019.
Su-30MKI and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) Tejas, airshow Aero India 2019.
HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) attack helicopter, airshow Aero India 2019.
HAL Dhruv helicopter demo team, airshow Aero India 2019.
Mil 8, airshow Aero India 2019, Air Force Station Yelahanka, Bengaluru.
Indian Navy Mil 17(171), November 2019, exercise Tiger TRIUMPH in Kakinada.
Indian Navy Sikorsky UH-3H Sea King, November 2019, exercise Tiger TRIUMPH in Kakinada.
MiG-21, Defense Expo 2020.
In May 2019, it was announced the MiG-31K could launch hypersonic missiles, known as Kinzhal. It’s claimed the Kinzhal (dagger) can hit speeds up to Mach 10, with a range of more than 2000km (1242.7 miles).
