Cold War programme · 1977–1988

CONSTANT PEG: flying the enemy to defeat it

CONSTANT PEG turned an audacious idea into one of the Cold War’s most valuable fighter-training programmes: operate real Soviet-designed aircraft in secrecy, learn their strengths and weaknesses, then let frontline crews meet them in the air.

From exploitation to operational training

HAVE DOUGHNUT, HAVE DRILL, HAVE FERRY and HAVE IDEA proved the value of flying acquired MiGs. CONSTANT PEG went further. Approved in 1978 after the 4477th Test & Evaluation Flight had been activated, it consolidated the aircraft, pilots, maintainers and hard-won knowledge into a repeatable training mission.

Red Eagle MiG-17 and MiG-21 aircraft flying with USAF aggressor aircraft over Nevada — The threat made real: Red Eagle MiGs airborne with USAF aggressor aircraft.

A deliberately simple purpose

The programme stripped away the mystique surrounding Soviet fighters. Visiting aircrews first learned what the MiGs could do, then flew carefully controlled engagements against them. The lesson was psychological as well as tactical: the enemy aircraft was not invincible, but it demanded respect and disciplined flying.

“The enemy was just another airplane. It was just another airplane that could be beaten … if you kept your cool.”
Vice Adm. Jim ‘Rookie’ Robb, USN (Ret.)

Pilot's view through a MiG gunsight along a runway at the Nevada test ranges — A pilot’s view through the gunsight at the Nevada ranges.

Thousands received the advantage

Over eleven years, more than 15,000 American aircrew were exposed to the MiG-17, MiG-21 and MiG-23. What began with closely held exploitation became a mature programme connected to Red Flag and the wider effort to restore American air-combat proficiency after Vietnam.

The people behind the codename

CONSTANT PEG depended on 69 Red Eagle pilots and an ingenious maintenance and support organisation working without normal manuals, spares or factory assistance. Steve Davies’s history reconstructs the programme through their first-hand testimony and declassified records.