In the years following its disappointing air combat performance over Vietnam, the U.S. set out to improve its training of fighter pilots. Among the initiatives was an ambitious top-secret project launched in the late 1970s that would redefine U.S. air-combat training.
The program, known as Constant Peg, pitted clandestinely obtained Soviet MiG-21s and MiG-23s flown by a cadre of highly experienced pilots against front-line fighter pilots of the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The MiGs' existence was unknown to all except the select few who flew them—known as Red Eagles—and those briefed to fly against them. The planes were kept at a remote, highly restricted airfield in Nevada. By training a generation of U.S. fighter pilots, the project helped set an unprecedented air-to-air kill ratio during Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War. Constant Peg and its MiGs may have been the best-kept secret of the Cold War.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Rob Zettel is a Red Eagles veteran who flew both MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighters from October 1983 to December 1986. Zettel shares an insider’s view of Constant Peg.
Zettel's new book, American MiG Pilot: Inside the Top Secret USAF Red Eagles MiG Squadron (Osprey Publishing), is available for purchase.
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