The mission profile included low level flight during which the aircraft would be undetectable by ground radar. The message from the border guards that an aircraft had crossed the state border and was making for Japan came too late: Belenko was already approaching Japanese airspace, with Air Self-Defence Force fighters waiting to escort him. The radio compass could be helpful but again the pilot had to know the marker beacon frequency at Hakodate, which the personnel at Chuguyevka did not know. As it was, Belenko was so nervous that he misjudged his landing and over-ran, damaging the landing gear and making the aircraft unairworthy.
Belenko made a statement for the press and requested political asylum in the U. A large group of experts arrived from the U. Since there were no legal reasons not to, the MiG was returned, in dismantled and crated condition. When the Soviet delegation led by General Dvornikov arrived in Japan the Japanese officials resorted to procrastination and bureaucratic snags. When the crates with the aircraft parts were trucked to the pier to be loaded aboard a Soviet freighter the Soviet representatives demanded that the crates be opened for inspection to make sure nothing was missing.
The Soviet experts were quick to find out just how much the West actually knew. Not knowing how to operate the equipment, the Americans had damaged some of it and had to make hasty repairs foreign fuses and resistors were discovered in the radar set. The incident got the world press going wild with stories about the MiG In fact, the U. Defence Secretary Schlesinger stated that the new Soviet interceptor was a sufficiently potent weapon to bring about drastic changes to the Western weapons systems and strategies.
The shock which the Soviet leaders, the Ministry of Defence and some other ministries experienced defies description. The potential adversary now had the potential to develop counter weapons and largely neutralise the MiG in a short while.
Belenko had intended to fly his aircraft to Chitose airbase, but with fuel running low, he had to land at the nearest available airport. That, as it turned out, was Hakdodate. The Japanese suddenly found themselves with a defecting pilot — and a fighter jet that had so far evaded Western intelligence agencies. The CIA was scarcely able to believe its luck. There were other problems too. Flying at Mach 3 meant enormous pressure on the engines. The air could then be forced out the back of the engine to help generate more thrust.
The sheer force of the air could overwhelm the fuel pumps, dumping more and more fuel into the engine. And at the same time, the force exerted by the compressors would be so huge it would start sucking up parts of the engine. The MiG would start eating itself. MiG pilots were warned never to exceed Mach 2. The spectre of the MiG had caused the US to embark on a major new aircraft project — one that had helped create the F Eagle, a fighter designed to be fast but also highly manoeuvrable like the MiG was thought to be.
Forty years later, the F is still in service. Its massive radar was years behind US models because instead of transistors it used antiquated vacuum tubes a technology that did, however, make it impervious to electromagnetic pulses from nuclear blasts.
The huge engines required so much fuel that the MiG was surprisingly short-ranged. It could take-off quickly, and fly in a straight line very fast to fire missiles or take pictures.
That is about it. The MiG that the Soviet Union had kept hidden from the world for several years was partially reassembled, and then loaded on a boat for its return to the USSR. Algeria and Syria are still thought to be flying them today. India used the reconnaissance model with great success for 25 years; they were only retired in because of a lack of spare parts.
The fear of the MiG was its most impressive effect, says Trimble. The Soviets had been very sensitive to the idea of these overflights. Belenko himself did not return to the USSR with his partially dismantled fighter plane. It has been built in a myriad of ever-improving versions. It is exactly the kind of plane the Pentagon worried about at the beginning of the s — fast and nimble — and the newer versions are probably the best fighter plane flying today, he says.
The design was heavily modified to create the MiG , a fighter armed with sophisticated sensors, a powerful radar and better engines. Western observers have had plenty of opportunities to see the MiG at airshows, though much of their inner workings remain closely guarded. After all, no Russian pilot has decided — for whatever reason — to seek exile outside of that vast country, and flown their MiG to an unsuspecting foreign airfield.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. In Depth Aircraft. The pilot who stole a secret Soviet fighter jet. Share using Email. By Stephen Dowling 5th September When pilot Viktor Belenko defected 40 years ago, he did so in a mysterious Soviet plane — the MiG Discover more of our picks. The technological leap needed to take an aircraft from Mach 2 to Mach 3 was an enormous challenge. That is, until a disillusioned Soviet fighter pilot hatched his plan. Belenko thundered through the valley and in two minutes shot out over the Sea of Japan.
He pushed a button which started broadcasting a continuous beacon only used in emergencies, and forty seconds later turned off the signal. Anyone listening to the distress frequency would have assumed that Belenko had crashed. Simultaneously he shut down his radar and all other equipment, including his radio, whose electronic emissions might be tracked. To evade detection by Soviet radar, Belenko had to fly low. Twice he had to swerve to avoid hitting fishing vessels. Only when he perceived that the waves were also getting higher did he climb to feet.
But at such low altitude, the engine was consuming fuel at an alarming rate, and Belenko feared that he would never make it to the airbase in Hokkaido, Japan. Risking detection Belenko was forced to climb up into the clouds. After 30 minutes of flying, Belenko figured he was nearing Japanese airspace and throttled back his engines to indicate lack of hostile intent and facilitate interception.
Belenko hoped he would be intercepted by Japanese Phantom fighters and be escorted to a safe landing field. Eventually, Belenko figured that he would have to land himself and began hunting for a possible place to land, such as a stretch of flat land or a highway. With fuel running low, Belenko made a dash for land, and just as the clouds cleared, Belenko saw an airfield ahead.
Belenko came in too fast, and despite deploying the drag chutes, the MiG overshot the runway, knocked down a few antennas and came to a stop with a busted landing gear. Many Russians tried to get to the plane, but Japanese officials shooed them away. After years of squinting at blurry satellite photos, here was a MiG nearly intact, with a helpful technical manual book that Belenko had smuggled along. The plane was soon dismantled and exhaustively examined. The Americans learned that the Soviets had not built a super fighter the Pentagon had feared, but an inflexible aircraft full of flaws.
Even though the MiG could technically fly at Mach 3, such high speeds put enormous pressure on the engines and the airframe itself. Flying at Mach 3 for more than a few minutes would disintegrate the engines. MiG pilots were warned never to exceed Mach 2. The aircraft also had a low maximum acceleration rating of 2. One MiG inadvertently pulled Even at subsonic speeds, its cruising range was too low to be an effective combat aircraft. The on-board electronics were based on vacuum-tube technology, representing an aging technology.
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