CIA declassification in October 2013 released information making possible the release of MiGs Over Nevada by Thornton D. "TD" Barnes. The book is an Area 51 veteran's account of the exploitation of Soviet MiGs at Area 51 that reversed the ratio of planes lost in the Vietnam War. The book covers the development of carry on projects that developed into a business at Area 51 to make it a permanent national test facility. Declassified documents released by the CIA in October 2013 reveal how a former CIA contract special projects team based at Area 51 developed a technological service for evaluating enemy aerial assets in conjunction with evaluating proof of concept technology of US companies vying for government contracts. This book is about the MiG plane exploitation projects that were the genesis of the Navy Top Gun Weapons School, the Air Force Red Flag exercises, and addition of aggressors to the Air Force weapons school. MiGs Over Nevada describes the operations at Area 51 where a small group of CIA personnel and contract specialists served as cadre serviced the needs of customers such as the US Air Force, the US Navy, and numerous corporate entities seeking the technological services that exists only at Area 51. The book also provides a view into the recruitment of this secret cadre and how it effected their families having to live under a cloak of secrecy.

MiGs over Nevada is a nonfiction account of Area 51 becoming the venue for the United States exploiting foreign aircraft, stealth, and radar. In 1955, the CIA chose Area 51 as its top-secret venue to test fly the U-2 reconnaissance plane. The CIA code-named it Project AQUATONE. In 1959, The CIA upgraded Area 51 to test fly its Mach 3, high-flying A-12 reconnaissance plane code named Project OXCART to replace the U-2. To conduct these tests, the CIA assembled a team of specialists known as Special Projects. In 1968, the CIA's Special Projects team provided the technology and radar systems to technically and tactically exploit the Soviet MiG-21 Fishbed code-named Project HAVE DOUGHNUT. The CIA's Special Projects then exploited the Soviet MiG-17 Fresco in Projects HAVE DRILL and HAVE FERRY. This was the genesis of the Navy's Top Gun Weapons School and the Air Force's Red Flag Exercises that continue today. Decades of follow-on exploitation projects followed at Area 51. The author was a member of this Special Projects team more highly classified than the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. In October 2013, the CIA declassified these projects. MiGs over Nevada does more than document the exploitation of the MiG-17F Fresco C, MiG-21F Fishbed, and the MiG-23 Flogger. It carries the reader through the evolution of Area 51 that made it the venue for the CIA's U-2 Project AQUATONE, A-12 Project OXCART, for exploiting Soviet MiG aircraft, and the nations black projects that followed and continue today. It tells how these projects inspired decades of exploitation projects that morphed into MiG operations known as the Red Eagles and the Red Hats. MiGs over Nevada describes Area 51 operations where a small group of CIA personnel and contract specialists served and supported customers such as the US Air Force, the US Navy, and numerous corporate entities seeking technological tradecraft existing only at Area 51. The book tells how living under a cloak of secrecy affected the family of one whose career path made him a member of this secret cadre for test flying spy planes, and exploiting enemy technology.

From the late 1960s until the end of the Cold War, the United States Air Force acquired and flew Russian-made MiG jets, culminating in a secret squadron dedicated to exposing American fighter pilots to enemy technology and tactics. Red Eagles tells the story of this squadron from the first tests of MiGs following the Vietnam War when the USAF had been woefully under-prepared in aerial combat. These initial flights would develop into the "black" or classified program known internally as Constant Peg. At a secret air base in Nevada, ace American fighter pilots were presented with a range of differnet MiG jets with a simple remit: to expose "the threat" to as many of their brethern as possible. Maintaining and flying these "assets" without without spare parts or manuals was an almost impossible task, putting those flying the MiGs in mortal danger on every flight. Despite these challenges, in all more than 5,900 American aircrews would train against America's secret MiGs, giving them the eskills they needed to face the enemy in real combat situations. For the first time, this book tells the story of Constant Peg and the 4477th Red Eagles Squadron in the words of the men who made it possible.

In MiGs over Nevada, the exploitation of foreign aircraft at Aera 51 by the CIA Special Projects Team and the US Air Force, Navy, and various intelligence agencies reversed the 9:1 aerial losses in Vietnam, establishing the US aerial superiority that continues today. Author TD Barnes details an insider's declassified participation in a small group of CIA personnel and contract specialists providing their technical tradecraft to support Area 51 customers such as the US Air Force, the US Navy, intelligence, and corporate entities. What happened in this book inspired the founding of the Navy's TOP GUN Fighter Weapons School, the USAF Weapons School, and the USAF's RED FLAG training exercises that continue today.

This "compellingly hard-hitting" bestseller from a Pulitzer Prize finalist gives readers the complete untold story of the top-secret military base for the first time (New York Times). It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere seventy-five miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the U.S. government — but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades. Myths and hypotheses about Area 51 have long abounded, thanks to the intense secrecy enveloping it. Some claim it is home to aliens, underground tunnel systems, and nuclear facilities. Others believe that the lunar landing itself was filmed there. The prevalence of these rumors stems from the fact that no credible insider has ever divulged the truth about his time inside the base. Until now. Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to nineteen men who served the base proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and unprecedented access to fifty-five additional military and intelligence personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base, thirty-two of whom lived and worked there for extended periods. In Area 51, Jacobsen shows us what has really gone on in the Nevada desert, from testing nuclear weapons to building super-secret, supersonic jets to pursuing the War on Terror. This is the first book based on interviews with eye witnesses to Area 51 history, which makes it the seminal work on the subject. Filled with formerly classified information that has never been accurately decoded for the public, Area 51 weaves the mysterious activities of the top-secret base into a gripping narrative, showing that facts are often more fantastic than fiction, especially when the distinction is almost impossible to make.

This book is a collection of "there I was" stories highlighting the experiences of Canadian Forces pilots who have had the opportunity of a lifetime to fly in the combat aircraft operated by former adversaries. Technical descriptions of key Soviet-built fighter jets such as the MiG-15, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29, Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-27 are included for general reference. The Canadian Fighter pilots mentioned in the story have generously provided their observations and comments on their specific experiences of flight in aircraft such as the MiG-29 (NATO codenamed Fulcrum), Sukhoi Su-22 (codenamed Fitter) and Su-27 (codenamed Flanker), both in Canada and overseas. The stories as told first hand by the pilots who contributed them should provide interesting reading for aviation enthusiasts of all ages. An Annex listing aircraft known to have been brought to the West by defecting pilots since 1949 is also included. The Annex briefly describes pilots and aircraft and the circumstances that brought the various defectors to the west, including the MiG-15 flown to South Korea by Lieutenant No Kum-Sok and the MiG-25 flown to Japan by Lieutenant Viktor Belenko. Brief details of Soviet-built aircraft later flown in NATO opposition force flight test programs are also included.

The personal account of the original “Red Eagle” of the establishment, equipment, and training practices of the highly classified MiG squadron of the USAF. America's Secret MiG Squadrons is the story of a group of incredibly brave military pioneers who put their lives on the line to establish a training program that would prepare the US Air Force for a potential Cold War battle with Soviet aircraft. As a F-4 Phantom II pilot in Vietnam, Col. Peck had been shocked by the technological abilities of Soviet-built aircraft, and at the poor level of training available to US pilots to aid them in their battles with Soviet MiGs in the skies over Vietnam. Working with the support of Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Jr., and under conditions of extreme secrecy, the CONSTANT PEG program was launched with Peck as the original Red Eagle. This is the fascinating history of the men who trained to fly and maintain covertly obtained MiGs, for the first time providing an insider's perspective, personal anecdotes, and photographs, revealing how Peck battled bureaucracy and scepticism to ultimately establish the premier fighter pilot training center – the real Top Gun.