Soviet pilot Lt. Victor Belenko, taking off from Sakharovka AB near Vladivostok, lands his MiG-25 (NATO reporting name “Foxbat”) interceptor at the Hakodate Airport in northern Japan and asks for political asylum. He is flown to the US two days later. The defection provides an intelligence bonanza, as this gives the West its first detailed inspection of the Mach 3-capable fighter and a chance to debrief a front-line pilot. The aircraft is partially disassembled, flown to a Japanese Air Self Defense Force base near Tokyo on a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy, where it is then fully disassembled and inspected in detail. On Nov. 12, the MiG-25, in crates, is loaded on a Soviet freighter and returned.
The U.S. has deployed key new electronic warfare aircraft overseas that would be critical for a large-scale operation against Iran as President Donald Trump publicly weighs resuming a full-scale air campaign. Two EA-37A Compass Call electronic attack aircraft deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to RAF Fairford, U.K.