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Video of F-22s flying with MiGs
Shared on X by Jared Isaacman, founder of Draken International, which provides adversary training to the U.S., British, and other NATO air forces, the epic video in this post was filmed over Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, on Nov. 7, 2024 and shows a unique formation featuring US Air Force (USAF) F-22 Raptor stealth fighters and Soviet-era MiG-21 and MiG-29 jets.
As already reported the formation was part of a memorial flyover dedicated to Retired US Air Force and Constant Peg Commander Col. Gail Peck who passed away last Oct. 10.
Project Constant Peg
Project Constant Peg was a secret program to train US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fighter aircrews to fly against Soviet-designed aircraft. The USAF’s 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES), nicknamed the “Red Eagles,” flew MiG-17 “Fresco,” MiG-21 “Fishbed,” and later MiG-23 “Flogger” aircraft. The Red Eagles gave American aircrews the skills and confidence to defeat these threats in aerial combat.
Established in 1977, Constant Peg applied lessons learned earlier in Southeast Asia. Over North Vietnam, the USAF and USN had faced high losses to enemy aircraft, air-to-air missiles, and surface-to-air missiles. These losses sharply illustrated training shortfalls and a loss of skill in the art of the “dogfight.” Between 1972 and 1977, the USAF and USN started a number of specialized training programs to reinvigorate the fighter force, including establishing the first Aggressor squadrons.
These squadrons flew USAF aircraft but employed Soviet tactics and flying techniques to simulate realistic adversaries. Constant Peg improved upon this method of instruction—Red Eagles pilots not only used Soviet fighter tactics but also flew the same MiG aircraft that their students could one day face in combat.
Establishing a secret squadron of Soviet aircraft from scratch was no simple task. The concept was pushed by a group of pilots from the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nevada. Their plan gained support at Tactical Air Command (TAC) headquarters and was championed at the Pentagon by then Maj Gail Peck and a handful of senior leaders. Maj Gen Hoyt “Sandy” Vandenberg, Jr., Air Force Director of Operations and Readiness, gave the final go-ahead and lent his “call sign” Constant to the program. Maj Peck completed the name by adding Peg, his wife Peggy’s nickname.
The Bandits: Red Eagle Pilots
This site concealed two classified programs–Constant Peg operated MiGs out of the airfield by day and at night the airfield was home to pilot training for the secret F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter.
In the late 1960s, the USAF secretly acquired and tested several MiGs in the classified Have Doughnut and Have Drill programs. These tests provided the first complete technical breakdowns of MiG-17 and MiG-21 aircraft. The USAF and other members of the intelligence community acquired additional MiGs, and USAF maintainers skillfully restored them for flight. The MiG-17 and MiG-21 formed the backbone of the Constant Peg fleet until they were joined by the MiG-23 in 1980. The Red Eagles retired the aging MiG-17s in 1982 due to obsolescence and safety concerns.
Red Eagles pilots were selected primarily from the ranks of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, Navy Fighter Weapons School (Topgun), and Aggressor squadrons. From 1977 to 1988, sixty-nine pilots flew with the squadron and each received their own unique “Bandit” number. Red Eagles pilots eagerly improved the level of instruction and scoured classified sources to improve their proficiency with the MiGs.
Constant Peg was terminated in 1988, and the 4477th TES was inactivated in 1990 in a funding drawdown at the end of the Cold War.
Photo credit: William Lewis & Airman 1st Class Timothy Perish / U.S. Air Force
