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Thumbnail Filmstrip of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25P Foxbat-A Red 31, Viktor Belenko 1:72 DIecast HA5601 Images
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25P Foxbat-A Diecast Model
Soviet Air Force 513th Fighter Rgt, Red 31 , Viktor Belenko, Hakodate AB, Japan, Defection, September 6th 1976
Lieutenant Viktor Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment, 11th Air Army, Soviet Air Defence Forces based in Chuguyevka, Primorsky Krai. His name became known worldwide on September 6, 1976, when he successfully defected to the West, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 "Foxbat" jet fighter to Hakodate, Japan. This was the first time that Western experts were able to get a close look at the aircraft, and it revealed many secrets and surprises. His defection caused a lot of damage to the Soviet Union Air Force. Belenko was sentenced to death in the Soviet Union for state treason but was granted asylum by then U.S. President Gerald Ford, and a trust fund was set up for him, granting him a very comfortable living in later years. The U.S. Government interrogated and debriefed him for five months after his defection, and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter. The MiG was disassembled, examined, and returned to the USSR in thirty crates. Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 "Foxbat", expecting to assist American pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft. However, the Japanese government only allowed the U.S. to examine the plane and do ground tests of the radar and engines.