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Russian Aggressor Squadron?


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I have searched the Web off and on over the last several years,  but have never been able to find out if the Russians have an equivalent to our Aggressor squadrons, i.e. do they have aircraft painted in US/NATO/Western paint schemes that they train their pilots in adversary tactics?  I know they don't get very many flight hours per month to begin with, but thought there potentially could be some interesting paint schemes.  I guess they could also do adversary tactics training by just having line squadrons play 'Red' vs 'Blue against each other.  Anybody ever come across any info?

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But they did have something rather similar type during the Soviet types. The aircraft were not painted like the NATO or the US counterparts but there were certain elements (stripes, emblems, tail art) that were borrowed from the "enemy".

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As Janman said, in Soviet time there existed the 1521st Center for Combat Employment, located at Maryy-1 Airbase in the then Turkmen SSR. They had the MiG-23MLD and the MiG-29 for Aggressor training. After the Breakup of the Soviet Union the MiG-29's were transferred to the new Air Force of Kazakhstan.

 

Read here for more info.

 

I guess if there is an Aggressor training today in the RuAF then it is probably handled by the 929th State Flight Test Centre (GLIT) located in Akhtubinsk.

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I also had another link somewhere in my old laptop in Russian language. I'll try to find it. 

 

I once built one of these birds. The old Italeri-based ICM MiG-29C with Authentic Decals markings and some Aires resin.

 

9-13272.jpg

 

 

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Thanks for the great info.  I wondered if they were ever able to recover F-4 Phantoms or A-4 Skyhawks downed in the Mideast or Vietnam.  I had heard rumors of an F-4 airframe sitting at a Russian airfield.

 

I appreciate the comments!

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Those fighters downed in ME or Vietnam are at best wrecks, worth little if anything. When South Vietnam surrendered, they (North Vietnam) aquired quite a few F-5's that were distributed around for testing. One is in Poland, and one in Checkoslovakia if I recall correctly. But no A-4 or F-4's as far as I know. 

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Yes, in Mary were operated several MiG-23MLDs and MiG-29s with bright elements, but now in RuAF big bright arts elements not used any more - only names of Heroes of USSR or Russia, St'George belt, some medals, Guardian badge. 

 

About place, where pilots of RuAf now retraining - its Lipetsk or Astrakhan VKS Centers, but no more brignt schemes.

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As complete aircraft the Russians only ever evaluated aircraft like the F-5A/E, A-37, UH-1, O-1, ...  (all captured by the North Vietnamese and given to the russians). It is said that they liked the F-5 a lot and found it partially superior as a light fighter compared to their MiG-21 (I saw the F-5 last year in the Kbely museum in CZ with my own eyes).

 

In Korea they captured a crashed F-86 almost intact and after evaluation there were serious plans to copy it (I read this story in a german magazine a while ago, even an OKB and a production plant were already assigned to produce the "Sabreski"). Edit: found the story here: http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=18140.0

They also had wrecks of the U-2 and planned to copy it as the Beriev S-13.

 

Otherwise the had wrecks of the A-4, F-111 (rescue capsule) and F-16 for structural studies. There is also a picture of a Mirage III and an F-4 at Zhukovskiy airfield under wraps. They may be mock-ups made from several wrecks as ground instruction airframes.

 

Here are some links to a few articles/discussions about this topic:

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?96448-Russian-evaluation-of-American-aircraft

https://thelexicans.wordpress.com/2013/07/30/western-aircraft-in-the-ussr/

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread70211/pg1

Edited by Shorty84
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On 3/27/2017 at 1:38 PM, kotey said:

About place, where pilots of RuAf now retraining - its Lipetsk or Astrakhan VKS Centers, but no more brignt schemes.

It's a shame, because Lipetsk had some colorful schemes back in the mid-2000s.

lipetsk-air-base-09.jpg

lipetsk-air-base-21.jpg

lipetsk-air-base-13.jpg

 

But even the Russian Fulcrums nowadays with Orthodox Christian Saints painted on the side are fascinating (even if the camouflage is back to the Soviet-era "Grey/Grey green":

http://russianplanes.net/id205556

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I think it is sensibe to distinguish between wrecks or parts from shot-down jets versus actually flying fighters, planes etc. 

 

You can learn somewhat from a plane that has been shot down, but damage from the crash will in many cases limit the value of what you find. A complete fighter like the F-5's that the Vietnameese handed over to Soviet and other nations is something completelly different. 

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On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 0:40 PM, Shorty84 said:

As complete aircraft the Russians only ever evaluated aircraft like the F-5A/E, A-37, UH-1, O-1, ...  (all captured by the North Vietnamese and given to the russians). It is said that they liked the F-5 a lot and found it partially superior as a light fighter compared to their MiG-21 (I saw the F-5 last year in the Kbely museum in CZ with my own eyes).

 

 

 

Fighter F-5E during flight testing in the summer of 1976 in GNIKI BBC Ahtubinsk. (USSR) 1.jpg

Fighter F-5E during flight testing in the summer of 1976 in GNIKI BBC Ahtubinsk. (USSR).jpg

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