Editing Area 51 (section)

===Foreign technology evaluation===

{{Main|Tonopah Test Range Airport}}

During the [[Cold War]], one of the missions carried out by the United States was the test and evaluation of captured [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] fighter aircraft. Beginning in the late 1960s, and for several decades, Area 51 played host to an assortment of Soviet-built aircraft.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
[[File:4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron MiG-21 in flight.jpg|thumb|left|[[Have Doughnut|HAVE DOUGHNUT]], a MiG-21F-13 flown by [[United States Navy]] and [[Air Force Systems Command]] during its 1968 exploitation]]

[[Munir Redfa]]{{'}}s defection with a [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21]] from Iraq for Israel's [[Mossad]] in [[Operation Diamond]] led to the [[Have Doughnut|HAVE DOUGHNUT]], [[HAVE DRILL]] and HAVE FERRY programs. The first MiGs flown in the United States were used to evaluate the aircraft in performance, technical, and operational capabilities, pitting the types against U.S. fighters.<ref name="Red Eagles">Steve Davies: "Red Eagles. America's Secret MiGs", Osprey Publishing, 2008</ref>

This was not a new mission, as testing of foreign technology by the USAF began during World War II. After the war, testing of acquired foreign technology was performed by the [[Air Technical Intelligence Center]] (ATIC, which became very influential during the [[Korean War]]), under the direct command of the Air Materiel Control Department. In 1961, ATIC became the Foreign Technology Division (FTD) and was reassigned to [[Air Force Systems Command]]. ATIC personnel were sent anywhere where foreign aircraft could be found. {{cn|date=August 2024}}

The focus of [[Air Force Systems Command]] limited the use of the fighter as a tool with which to train the [[front line]] tactical fighter pilots.<ref name="Red Eagles"/> Air Force Systems Command recruited its pilots from the [[Air Force Flight Test Center]] at [[Edwards Air Force Base]], California, who were usually graduates from various test pilot schools. [[Tactical Air Command]] selected its pilots primarily from the ranks of the [[United States Air Force Weapons School|Weapons School]] graduates.<ref name="Red Eagles"/>

In August 1966, [[Iraqi Air Force]] fighter pilot Captain [[Munir Redfa]] [[List of Cold War pilot defections#Iraq|defected]], flying his [[MiG-21]] to Israel after being ordered to attack Iraqi Kurd villages with napalm. His aircraft was transferred to Groom Lake in late 1967 for study. Israel loaned the MiG-21 to the US Air Force from January 1968 to April 1968.<ref name="jpost/330330">{{cite news |last1=Rosen |first1=Benji |title=Israel loaned Soviet jets to US for testing in 1968 |url=https://www.jpost.com/defense/israel-loaned-soviet-jets-to-us-for-testing-in-1968-330330 |access-date=22 December 2022 |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=November 1, 2013}}</ref> In 1968, the US Air Force and Navy jointly formed a project known as [[HAVE DOUGHNUT]] in which Air Force Systems Command, Tactical Air Command, and the U.S. Navy's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four (VX-4) flew this acquired Soviet-made aircraft in simulated air combat training.<ref name="Red Eagles"/> As U.S. possession of the Soviet MiG-21 was, itself, secret, it was tested at Groom Lake. A joint Air Force-Navy team was assembled for a series of dogfight tests.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|219}}
[[File:4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron MiG-17F in flight.jpg|thumb|HAVE FERRY, the second of two [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17|MiG-17F]] "Fresco"s loaned to the United States by Israel in 1969|alt=]]

Comparisons between the F-4 and the MiG-21 indicated that, on the surface, they were evenly matched. The HAVE DOUGHNUT tests showed the skill of the man in the cockpit was what made the difference. When the Navy or Air Force pilots flew the MiG-21, the results were a draw; the F-4 would win some fights, the MiG-21 would win others. There were no clear advantages. The problem was not with the planes, but with the pilots flying them. The pilots would not fly either plane to its limits. One of the Navy pilots was Marland W. "Doc" Townsend, then commander of [[VF-121]], the F-4 training squadron at [[NAS Miramar]]. He was an engineer and a Korean War veteran and had flown almost every Navy aircraft. When he flew against the MiG-21, he would outmaneuver it every time. The Air Force pilots would not go vertical in the MiG-21. The HAVE DOUGHNUT project officer was Tom Cassidy, a pilot with [[VX-4]], the Navy's Air Development Squadron at [[Naval Air Station Point Mugu|Point Mugu]]. He had been watching as Townsend "waxed" the Air Force MiG-21 pilots. Cassidy climbed into the MiG-21 and went up against Townsend's F-4. This time the result was far different. Cassidy was willing to fight in the vertical, flying the plane to the point where it was buffeting, just above the stall. Cassidy was able to get on the F-4's tail. After the flight, they realized the MiG-21 turned better than the F-4 at lower speeds. The key was for the F-4 to keep its speed up. An F-4 had defeated the MiG-21; the weakness of the Soviet plane had been found. Further test flights confirmed what was learned. It was also clear that the MiG-21 was a formidable enemy. United States pilots would have to fly much better than they had been to beat it. This would require a special school to teach advanced air combat techniques.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|220–221}}

On 12 August 1968, two Syrian air force lieutenants, Walid Adham and Radfan Rifai, took off in a pair of [[MiG-17]]Fs on a training mission. They lost their way and, believing they were over Lebanon, landed at the [[Betzet]] Landing Field in northern Israel. (One version has it that they were led astray by an Arabic-speaking Israeli).<ref name="Peebles"/> Prior to the end of 1968 these MiG-17s were transferred from Israeli stocks and added to the Area 51 test fleet. The aircraft were given USAF designations and fake serial numbers so that they could be identified in DOD standard flight logs. As in the earlier program, a small group of Air Force and Navy pilots conducted mock dogfights with the MiG-17s. Selected instructors from the Navy's Top Gun school at [[NAS Miramar]], California, were chosen to fly against the MiGs for familiarization purposes. Very soon, the MiG-17's shortcomings became clear. It had an extremely simple, even crude, control system that lacked the power-boosted controls of American aircraft. The F-4's twin engines were so powerful it could accelerate out of range of the MiG-17's guns in thirty seconds. It was important for the F-4 to keep its distance from the MiG-17. As long as the F-4 was one and a half miles from the MiG-17, it was outside the reach of the Soviet fighter's guns, but the MiG was within reach of the F-4's missiles.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|222–225}}

The data from the HAVE DOUGHNUT and HAVE DRILL tests were provided to the newly formed [[United States Navy Fighter Weapons School|Top Gun]] school at [[NAS Miramar]]. By 1970, the HAVE DRILL program was expanded; a few selected fleet F-4 crews were given the chance to fight the MiGs. The most important result of Project HAVE DRILL is that no Navy pilot who flew in the project defeated the MiG-17 Fresco in the first engagement. The HAVE DRILL dogfights were by invitation only. The other pilots based at Nellis Air Force Base were not to know about the U.S.-operated MiGs. To prevent any sightings, the airspace above the Groom Lake range was closed. On aeronautical maps, the exercise area was marked in red ink. The forbidden zone became known as "Red Square".<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|226}}

During the remainder of the [[Vietnam War]], the Navy kill ratio climbed to 8.33 to 1. In contrast, the Air Force rate improved only slightly to 2.83 to 1. The reason for this difference was Top Gun. The Navy had revitalized its air combat training, while the Air Force had stayed stagnant. Most of the Navy MiG kills were by Top Gun graduates.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|231}}

In May 1973, Project HAVE IDEA was formed, which took over from the older HAVE DOUGHNUT, HAVE FERRY and HAVE DRILL projects, and the project was transferred to the [[Tonopah Test Range Airport]]. At Tonopah, testing of foreign technology aircraft continued and expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="Red Eagles"/>

Area 51 also hosted another foreign materiel evaluation program called HAVE GLIB. This involved testing Soviet tracking and missile control radar systems. A complex of actual and replica Soviet-type threat systems began to grow around "Slater Lake", a mile northwest of the main base, along with an acquired Soviet "Barlock" search radar placed at [[Tonopah Air Force Station]]. They were arranged to simulate a Soviet-style air defense complex.<ref name="Red Eagles"/>

The Air Force began funding improvements to Area 51 in 1977 under project SCORE EVENT. In 1979, the CIA transferred jurisdiction of the Area 51 site to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. Sam Mitchell, the last CIA commander of Area 51, relinquished command to USAF Lt. Col. Larry D. McClain.<ref name="Red Eagles"/>

In 2017, a USAF aircraft crashed at the site, killing the pilot, Lt. Colonel Eric "Doc" Schultz. The USAF refused to release further information regarding the crash. In 2022, unconfirmed reports emerged that the crash involved an [[Sukhoi Su-27|SU-27]] that was part of the classified Foreign Materials Exploitation program. The reports claimed that the aircraft suffered a technical issue that resulted in both crew members ejecting from the aircraft, resulting in the death of Schultz.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2022 |title=Area 51 Test Pilot Died During Heroic Su-27 Flight: Report |url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/area-51-test-pilots-mysterious-death-happened-heroically-flying-an-su-27-report |website=The Drive}}</ref>