Podpolkovnik (Lt. Col.) Ivan Kozhedub, while on a lone reconnaissance patrol in a Lavochkin La-7, shoots down a German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter in what the leading Soviet ace would call “a lucky shot.” This is the only German jet downed by a Soviet pilot during World War II.
The Department of the Air Force wants to launch a construction boom with its fiscal 2027 budget, more than doubling its request over 2026, according to budget documents.
