HAVE JUNIPER
Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 to assist American pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft. This presented the USAF with an opportunity they could not ignore. The original plan was to disassemble and examine the MiG before returning it to the Soviets, but the heads of the USAF hurriedly petitioned the White House with an alternate plan.
On the night of 25 September a USAF C-5A Galaxy arrived at Hakodate and by 4am the disassembled MiG and Belenko were loaded aboard and flown non-stop to Tonopah, NV, home of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron. There Belenko assisted USAF engineers in reassembling the MiG in preparation for flight. The project was named Have Juniper, in line with previous foreign aircraft trials, and Bort Red-31 was taken into the USAF inventory under the official-sounding designation YF-115. The Russian stars were also roughly repainted in silver and replaced with large USAF markings to ensure no trigger-happy fighters attempted to intercept the craft.
On the morning of October 10 Red-31, with an American pilot (whose identity remains classified, referred to only as Colonel M in recently-declassified Have Juniper files) at the controls and an F-100D as chase plane with Belenko in the rear seat to give guidance over the radio, was flown from Tonopah for a 42min test flight. Belenko later said (recounted in the notes) he was full of praise for Colonel M, who had flown the aircraft well, although conservatively.
But Belenko's involvement was brief, as the day after the flight the CIA whisked him away for a more thorough debrief, the 4477th seemingly satisfied with the information he had relayed. After another 10 flights Colonel M briefed four others on the operation of the MiG – Captains John Q Parrish, Matthew A Howard and Adam H Lowe, and Lieutenant Colonel Paul T Rogers. Over the next four years they tested Red-31 to its limits, discovering that although it had phenomenal performance its manoeuvrability left much to be desired. Mock dogfights conducted with an F-15A loaned from the 555th Fighter Squadron in late 1976 showed the Foxbat could outrun the Eagle, but the American fighter had the upper hand in air-combat manoeuvring.
Other tests were conducted during 1977 involving Red-31 “intercepting” YB-70A Valkyrie 62-0208, operating from Nellis, on at least six occasions. These tests proved that while the Valkyrie had a slight edge over the Foxbat in speed, it was still vulnerable to interception. The intercept tests led to improved training for operational Valkyrie crews being relayed through official channels over the coming months.
In February 1980 the Have Juniper flight programme was placed on hold while the flight data was analysed. Have Juniper was to be concluded and the aircraft retired but Have Hammer, the project to recover and test a MiG-31 Firefox prototype, was initiated on 23 May and it was decided to retain Red-31 to fly comparison missions.
The Foxbat-Firefox trials were completed in mid-1981 and Have Juniper was formally concluded, the aircraft being grounded and placed into storage with wings and empennage detached.
Following the “thaw” of the Cold War Red-31 was released from storage at Tonopah and flown to Nellis, thereafter being trucked to the USAF Museum at Dayton, OH for display. After being refurbished and returned to the markings it wore when Belenko defected, the aircraft went on permanent display on 6 September 1991. Viktor Belenko was present for the unveiling. There was no mention of the testing nor of Have Juniper in the museum display, display boards vaguely stating the aircraft was “disassembled and analysed”.
That changed in October 2013. That month the National Security Archive declassified a wide range of documents including those relating to Have Juniper and its predecessors Have Drill, Have Doughnut and Have Ferry. The display surrounding Red-31 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force (so renamed in 2004) was soon completely reorganised and overhauled to reflect the “new” information.
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More, better pictures will be uploaded Sunday :-)
