Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,995
A Deserter ...!
On September 6, 1976 at 6:45 a.m., the Soviet pilot Captain Viktor Ivanovich Belenko ...
... takes of with his brand new MiG-25 interceptor ...
... with the identification "red 31" from Primorsky Airfield (near the village Chuguevka) in the extreme southeast of Russia on the Sea of Japan ...:
His job on this day: to carry out interception exercises.
At this time Belenko's MiG-25P is by far the fastest fighter jet in the world - specially developed to intercept and destroy the US spy plane SR-71!
Belenko does not carry out his assignment, but lands his fighter a little later - at 9:15 a.m. - on the Japanese airfield Hakodate on Hokkaido ...
... the northernmost island of Japan, and asks immediately for political asylum in the United States.
His unsuspecting wife and mother are left behind in the Soviet Union!
Most embarrassing for the Soviet Union, which initially tried to gloss over the whole thing with an "emergency landing" by Belenko in Japan.
Only when Belenko complained on Japanese radio (which can also be received in the USSR!) Of his dissatisfaction with the living conditions of the flight crew, such as unregulated working hours and frequent weekend cancellations, the "emergency landing" thing can no longer be sustained.
Belenko also claims that he feels left out when a promotion is due.
So the Soviet propaganda "exposes" Belenko as a "recruited mercenary of the CIA", who is also "mentally ill", which is of course also nonsensical, one would hardly have a new fighter plane worth hundreds of millions of rubles for a mentally ill person entrusted.
In order to somehow prove this, the KGB conducts multiple interrogations with 116 people from Belenko's environment - but no “proof” can be produced!
The man is simply interested in the better living conditions in the West.
Belenko's machine is of a relatively new type (the model was only put into service three years earlier!) And equipped with interesting technical details relating to radar and avionics and is gutted and carefully examined by Japanese and American specialists.
In order to be able to dismantle Belenko's MiG 25 in peace and quiet, the CIA is even erecting a building around the machine on the spot ...:
Belenko of course receives political asylum in the USA, where he still lives today ...
... the USA did not return its MiG to the Soviet Union until November 15, 1976.
As a result, the air forces of all Warsaw Pact countries have to change their electronic friend-foe detection systems on the ground and in all aircraft, which results in costs of over 2 billion rubles!
On September 6, 1976 at 6:45 a.m., the Soviet pilot Captain Viktor Ivanovich Belenko ...
... takes of with his brand new MiG-25 interceptor ...
... with the identification "red 31" from Primorsky Airfield (near the village Chuguevka) in the extreme southeast of Russia on the Sea of Japan ...:
His job on this day: to carry out interception exercises.
At this time Belenko's MiG-25P is by far the fastest fighter jet in the world - specially developed to intercept and destroy the US spy plane SR-71!
Belenko does not carry out his assignment, but lands his fighter a little later - at 9:15 a.m. - on the Japanese airfield Hakodate on Hokkaido ...
... the northernmost island of Japan, and asks immediately for political asylum in the United States.
His unsuspecting wife and mother are left behind in the Soviet Union!
Most embarrassing for the Soviet Union, which initially tried to gloss over the whole thing with an "emergency landing" by Belenko in Japan.
Only when Belenko complained on Japanese radio (which can also be received in the USSR!) Of his dissatisfaction with the living conditions of the flight crew, such as unregulated working hours and frequent weekend cancellations, the "emergency landing" thing can no longer be sustained.
Belenko also claims that he feels left out when a promotion is due.
So the Soviet propaganda "exposes" Belenko as a "recruited mercenary of the CIA", who is also "mentally ill", which is of course also nonsensical, one would hardly have a new fighter plane worth hundreds of millions of rubles for a mentally ill person entrusted.
In order to somehow prove this, the KGB conducts multiple interrogations with 116 people from Belenko's environment - but no “proof” can be produced!
The man is simply interested in the better living conditions in the West.
Belenko's machine is of a relatively new type (the model was only put into service three years earlier!) And equipped with interesting technical details relating to radar and avionics and is gutted and carefully examined by Japanese and American specialists.
In order to be able to dismantle Belenko's MiG 25 in peace and quiet, the CIA is even erecting a building around the machine on the spot ...:
Belenko of course receives political asylum in the USA, where he still lives today ...
... the USA did not return its MiG to the Soviet Union until November 15, 1976.
As a result, the air forces of all Warsaw Pact countries have to change their electronic friend-foe detection systems on the ground and in all aircraft, which results in costs of over 2 billion rubles!
