F-15 fighter hijacking: how Moscow missed the opportunity to study an American plane

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During the Cold War, the ability to study high-end enemy fighters was highly valued by both the Western Bloc and the USSR. In the United States, there was a whole program for the purchase of Soviet equipment and encouraging desertion. China also sought to develop its aviation to compete with the superpowers, while resorting to unscrupulous methods of obtaining information, writes the American edition of Military Watch.

The advent of fourth-generation aviation has further intensified competition. But the collapse of the Warsaw Pact Organization and the collapse of the USSR allowed the West and China to get hold of many Soviet developments without much difficulty.



It should be noted that there was a case in history when Moscow and Beijing missed a real opportunity to study the magnificent American Donnell Douglas F-15 Eagle aircraft. These fighters have been in service since 1976, i.e. for 45 years.

During the Cold War, the F-15 was exported to only three countries: Israel, Japan and Saudi Arabia. On November 11, 1990, a RAF pilot hijacked and flew an F-15C Eagle fighter jet across the Red Sea to Sudan during Operation Desert Shield. At the time, Khartoum had very close relations with Moscow and Beijing, but Sudan did not risk it and returned the plane to Riyadh for a modest $ 40 million in rewards. At the same time, the Sudanese categorically refused to hand over the deserter pilot, giving him political shelter.

Riyadh now has over 200 F-15s. These fighters also appeared in Singapore and South Korea, with Qatar being the latest customer. The US Air Force, seeing the complete futility of the F-22, themselves ordered more than 100 F-15EX units. Therefore, access to the F-15 from Washington's potential adversaries would probably at one time be a very useful asset for them, the American media summed up.
  • Tech.Sgt. Hans H.Deffner/defense.gov
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25 comments
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  1. +5
    27 February 2021 18: 40
    I am sure that all the necessary data on the F-15 is in the Russian Federation. For example, it is known that the F-15 will not be able to repeat a low-altitude high-speed flight at the minimum altitudes that the Russian Su and French Mirage are capable of, its wings will fall off in such modes.
  2. -9
    27 February 2021 19: 47
    The F-15 is an excellent aircraft, a reliable combat vehicle, surpassed enemy fighters in the skies of Syria and Lebanon in all respects, a huge number of victories in battles with MiGs and Su, not a single case of irrecoverable losses.
    1. +6
      27 February 2021 21: 26
      You wanted to say Not a single case of losses you recognized, despite the fact that you fought mainly with export versions of Soviet aircraft, such as the MiG-21 and Su-17, obviously more ancient and weak, having a numerical superiority, as in Yugoslavia
      1. -6
        27 February 2021 23: 15
        I wanted to say exactly what I said. The Israelis never hide their losses, the Russians find it hard to believe, but it really is. And Israeli pilots on the F-15 shot down the Syrians on the MiG-23MS, MiG-23MF, MiG-29 in air battles, while the old MiG-21s were killed in general. It is clear that the results of air battles depended not only on technology, but also on the skill of the pilots, which is undoubtedly much higher among the Israelis, but the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, according to experts, was the best fighter in its segment at that time.
        1. +3
          1 March 2021 20: 18
          We are reliably aware of the losses of the Israeli Air Force, which are recognized even by British authors, you have already written about it. Only Israel and its owners from Washington do not recognize them, but these are your problems, because no matter how much you write, halva will not become sweeter. All the export versions of the aircraft you have listed, and in Yugoslavia, the MiG-29B fought in this way, the onboard equipment of which was inferior to the export MiG-29A, which went only into service with the Warsaw Pact countries and the MiG-23MLD, which was in service only with the USSR Air Force.
          1. -3
            1 March 2021 21: 29
            Quote: Wanderer039
            We are reliably aware of the losses of the Israeli Air Force, which even British authors admit,

            Yes, of course, you still write that the defeat of the Syrians in 1982. over Lebanon was not. And what you know has nothing to do with reality.
            1. +2
              1 March 2021 21: 31
              Yeah, only England, together with the Russians, recognizes your allegedly non-existent losses, and only a sick person can blame the British for love of Russia
              1. -2
                1 March 2021 21: 37
                Officials of Great Britain have never recognized anything of the kind, and the Russians are in no way at all here.
                1. +2
                  1 March 2021 21: 49
                  So Thatcher had something to do without the downed planes of the Eireistan Air Force.
                  1. -3
                    1 March 2021 21: 59
                    Did you, like, jump off topic? laughing laughing laughing Thatcher did not deal with these matters at all, not her profile. But the then Syrian Fuhrer Hafez Assad, the father of the current Bashar, after the famous defeat that the Israelis inflicted on the Syrian Air Force, decided to turn to the French for aircraft, believing that Soviet technology was inferior to Western technology. By the way, Israeli experts spoke very positively about Soviet aircraft of that time. And the French refused to sell planes to Syria.
                    1. +3
                      1 March 2021 22: 16
                      He is no more a Fuehrer than any of yours who call themselves God's chosen ones. Hitler considered himself an Aryan, you are God's chosen one. Fascism begins precisely with this, when some put themselves above the rest of the world. The stump is clear that some of your specialists knew the real numbers of losses of the Israeli Air Force, in unofficial battles, so to speak, with the USSR Air Force, and therefore respected. I will only write what I know personally. The Israeli Air Force lost 1 Skyhawk, 2 Phantom-2,1 Mirage, 2 F-15.
                      1. -3
                        1 March 2021 22: 31
                        I will repeat it once more for the gifted: the Israelis never hide their combat losses, we have a different psychology here, it's hard for you to understand. To hide the number of servicemen who died in battle is an elementary disrespect for the dead, a sin before their memory. And the Soviet planes were really good then, in contrast to the Arab pilots. There was no direct confrontation in Lebanon then between the Israelis and the Soviets. Fights between Soviet and Israeli pilots took place earlier, in 1970. in Egypt, the Israelis won, after which the command of the USSR Air Force forbade Soviet flyers to engage in battle with the Jews - these are the facts of history.
                      2. +4
                        1 March 2021 22: 39
                        You can believe in anything, in your God's chosenness, in the Ukrainian pharaohs Tutonkhomenko, we don't care, but we know the truth and you know it, those who are supposed to know ... You lost 2 F-15 against 2 lost USSR MiG-25, so this does not pull to win ... Yes, once you won a little, because of the stupidity of Arab aircraft controllers from the ground, exchanging 1 of your Skyhawk, a pair of your Phantom-2 and 1 Mirage for 5 MiG-21, but You cannot call it a defeat, because it is a tactical success that cannot affect the course of the war. Losing 4 of your own by shooting down 5 enemy planes is Pirov's victory.
                      3. -2
                        1 March 2021 22: 57
                        The Israelis never shot down a single MiG-25, there was not this, as well as there was no loss of two F-15s, and the score in that battle on July 30, 1970. was dry in favor of the Israelis, they shot down five Soviet MiG-21s without losing any of their fighters. From the Israeli Air Force, F-4 Phantom and Miraje III participated in that battle, there were no Skyhawks.
                      4. +4
                        1 March 2021 23: 03
                        There were three fights. In the first, those MiG-21s shot down your Skyhawk on dry land, then a couple of your Phantom-2s turned up, which worked as bombers and were also shot down by MiGs on dry land, but then, due to the mistakes of Arab aircraft controllers, 5 MiG-21s, with almost dry tanks came under attack from superior enemy forces, and then you shot down 5 MiG-21s, losing 1 of your Mirage. If I were now with my parents and had time, I would even find you the name of the deceased pilot who shot down your Mirage, soaking the account. I remember he was in the rank of captain ... Israel does not recognize the loss of the F-15, just as the USSR did not recognize the loss of the MiG-25, but this does not mean that there were none. Information for housewives is different from information for those who need to know the truth.
                      5. -2
                        2 March 2021 03: 21
                        Quote: Wanderer039
                        Information for housewives is different from information for those who need to know the truth.

                        Anyone can know the truth in a democratic society, if he wishes, the problem is that housewives want to know only what they like. So read on and further primitive fabrications about what was not - the internet is full of such information.
                      6. +2
                        2 March 2021 10: 39
                        Don't tell anyone here. England still secrets its documents from the Second World War, and the Yankees hide the accidents at their first nuclear submarine Nautilus, where the nuclear reactor was essentially stuffed into the hull of a diesel submarine ... Tales about democracy, they are for stupid housewives ...
                      7. -2
                        2 March 2021 17: 43
                        As far as I know, a huge amount of documents relating to various periods of the history of the USSR, including the years of the war, stored in Russian archives is classified and will not be declassified in the foreseeable future. And for some reason you remembered the English ...
                      8. +3
                        3 March 2021 09: 15
                        In the Russian Federation, documents from the Second World War have been declassified, with the exception of a number of official documents of the intelligence structures of the Russian Federation and its special forces. So the Russian Federation, like the Yankees, does not hide its accidents at the Nautilus nuclear submarine. However, we already know about them, and they hide them from blonde housewives
    2. The comment was deleted.
  3. -3
    28 February 2021 09: 08
    To expand the author's horizons - the F-15EX is a completely different machine and in common with the old one it only has a glider, and that is not entirely. As for the F22, it is generally stupid, it and the F-15 were created for different purposes and tasks. ...
  4. 0
    28 February 2021 09: 08
    Oh, aaaftar, don't tell my old bones !! The USA had a program, but the USSR did not !? And how did you not hear the details of the whole tank via the diplomatic post to the USSR? The primer is in your hands!
  5. 0
    28 February 2021 09: 13
    Quote: Bindyuzhnik
    The F-15 is an excellent aircraft, a reliable combat vehicle, surpassed enemy fighters in the skies of Syria and Lebanon in all respects, a huge number of victories in battles with MiGs and Su, not a single case of irrecoverable losses.

    Let's be more specific! When, where exactly, for what ALL articles? and ... and who was the enemy there and how many victories ??
    1. The comment was deleted.
  6. -1
    28 February 2021 09: 17
    Quote: Bindyuzhnik
    I wanted to say exactly what I said. The Israelis never hide their losses, the Russians find it hard to believe, but it really is ...

    Vaughn what! Got it! Brave Jewish pilots killed all the Russians! You should have talked to your dad, you eccentric! He would at least tell you who the Russians are! These are not Egyptian and Syrian pilots! ...
    1. -2
      1 March 2021 21: 43
      Are you able to understand printed text at all? Where did I say something negative about the Russians here? It was you, on the hike, who decided to shit the Jews, so this attitude does not surprise me, but don’t you dare remember my late father!
  7. -2
    1 March 2021 15: 13
    The F22 is not a weak aircraft. Its production was simply stopped and the production lines were closed. There was no need for it at the time. Today, the resumption of production is associated with large financial costs, reconstruction of production lines worth many billions of dollars. In addition, the United States is working on a new air superiority fighter.