- 5/17/2025
Former enemies meet in an atmosphere of mutual respect as NOVA accompanies pilot and aviation writer Jeff Ethell – call sign "Fighter Writer" – to an air base outside Moscow for a unique visit with the Russian Knights. The Russians invite their guests inside the cockpits of their Migs and SUs for a brain-numbing ride to demonstrate their aerobatic skills. As these pilots from opposite sides of the world swap questions and stories, a brief history of Russian and Soviet air combat will unfold, making use of images that were locked away in Moscow military archives for generations. The program will also take a detailed look at the design, firepower and capabilities of Russia's combat jets—still among the most awesome flying machines invented by man.
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00:00Tonight on NOVA, take the flight of your life.
00:05Climb inside the cockpit of a Russian fighter plane.
00:09Once top secret, these machines were in the vanguard of the Soviet military.
00:14Now, the Russians reveal why their planes and their pilots are still dangerous.
00:21If you did this in American air base, you wouldn't have your career left.
00:25Open her up and let her rip. It's Top Gun NOVA Moscow.
00:55Music
01:21Forged of revolution,
01:23after two world wars and decades of Cold War fears,
01:27these powerful fighter jets were the pride of the Soviet Air Force.
01:31Today, they fly for the Russian Federation.
01:40For nearly 50 years, the United States expected to do battle with these men and machines.
01:49Now, for the first time, the West can pull back the iron curtain
01:53to see just what kind of air force Russia built.
02:00I've got to tell you, the Russians are pretty good pilots.
02:02I mean, those guys, in the right circumstances, could be a very lethal force.
02:12I'll put it this way. A pilot in an F-18 and a pilot in a MiG-29 should be friends.
02:17I wouldn't want them to come into conflict with each other, to fight against one another.
02:21There are no dummies. I mean, those are some pretty smart people over there and heroic people.
02:30Many believe it would have been a close contest, America's jets and pilots against Russia's.
02:36But they would have approached the battle very differently.
02:42I think the whole philosophy of Russian fighters is rugged nature, max performance,
02:48passive weapons, ease of maintenance in the field.
02:53All those combined into one philosophical bent that is quite different from Western fighters.
03:06Russia has impressive air technology, which may even surpass the West in some areas.
03:15But their way of doing things has a practical, almost primitive side that baffles Western observers.
03:26Increasingly, the West has come to rely on computer-driven planes and weaponry,
03:30surgical bombing and air battles that take place beyond visual range.
03:38Russia lacks this high level of electronic warfare and is currently in severe economic trouble.
03:44Yet, those who study the Russian Air Force say it would be foolish to dismiss them.
03:52I wouldn't count them out. I wouldn't dare count them out, particularly when you have airplanes
03:57this combat capable, this rugged. I think the Russians have a real future.
04:02American pilot Jeff Ethel has flown over 200 types of military aircraft,
04:07including the American F-15, F-16 and F-18 and the Russian MiG-21 and MiG-29.
04:14Rejected by the Air Force for his 24 division, he became an aviation author, callsign Fighter Writer.
04:22Jeff has come to Zhukovsky Air Base, 15 miles outside Moscow, to fly the Sukhoi 27, Russia's top-line fighter jet.
04:30His co-pilot is Igor Voitintsev of the Sukhoi Design Bureau.
04:39From the Bureau's secret corner of the airfield, NOVA procured a fully equipped Su-27 for Jeff to try.
04:47The 25-ton fighter interceptor will reach top speeds of 1,550 miles per hour and an altitude of 59,000 feet.
04:55Its greater-than-1-to-1 thrust-to-weight ratio gives it one of the fastest acceleration rates of any jet in the world.
05:05I would say the first third of the airplane is very, very finely built.
05:09It's smooth where it needs to be in the airflow.
05:12The last two-thirds of the airplane is very rough. It doesn't need to be built like a Cadillac.
05:16They pretty much refine it where it needs to be and leave the rest of it alone.
05:21Jeff wanted to fly the Su-27 to feel what Russian fighter pilots have at their command.
05:28If anything, Russian airplanes are brute force. They're just absolutely the epitome of power.
05:40And the first thing we did was a terrific low level, and Igor was quite happy to be right down in the street.
05:51Igor said, here, let me take it. We went down into a riverbed.
05:59And I mean so low that we could see the distinct trees coming by on either side of the riverbank.
06:09Low level flight is dangerous, especially at a blistering 650 miles an hour.
06:14But Russians have always valued the ability to fly low in support of their ground troops and to evade radar detection.
06:21Then just pointed the nose up, went into afterburner, punched through the cloud deck.
06:25And the first thing we started to do was a series of rolls.
06:34Well, I show you a turn with afterburner, OK?
06:42Pulling high G in this airplane did not seem to be as uncomfortable to me as maybe in some other airplanes.
06:49Probably not as good as an F-16 because you're lying down a bit, but certainly easier than most airplanes that you sit up in.
07:00Quite frankly, the capability is turned very fast, very tight, low.
07:04And that's an important capability for evading enemy aircraft, fire enemy missiles.
07:22And I said, I would like to do a few rolls.
07:25He said, fine, we'll just do them over the runway.
07:27I said, no, I mean a couple of rolls.
07:31No, no, just fly to the runway.
07:33I'll give you the heading.
07:34And then when you come down, I want you at 50 meters or less.
07:38And we'll come down.
07:40And then I want you to roll it and pitch up in a half loop for landing.
07:45So here we come, roaring across the runway.
07:49I mean, zipping along.
07:50And I figure I'm pretty low.
07:51He says, you're not, you're not, you're not low enough.
07:54So bump the stick a little bit forward and down we come.
07:57And I mean, we were low.
08:04If you did this in American air base, you wouldn't have your career left.
08:12There are many striking contrasts between Russian and American air bases, not the least of which is overall appearance.
08:19In the United States, daily FOD sweeps for foreign object damage
08:24clear the flight line of the smallest bits of litter that could wreck a jet engine.
08:30At Russian airfields, metal scrap is tossed in the open.
08:37The grass is allowed to grow tall, even on the runways.
08:41Birds, lethal to an engine if sucked inside,
08:44gather freely in the fields around the tarmac.
08:47To the Russians, there is an undeniable logic behind the mess.
08:51After all, the field of combat would hardly be cleaner.
08:55Walking around a Russian air base is quite a unique experience for an American
08:59who is used to seeing everything picked up and nothing that can get in the airplane.
09:03And here, that isn't the case. It doesn't need to be.
09:06Russian jets are designed to perform in less than ideal conditions.
09:11Retractable titanium grates protect the engine intakes on the Su-27, 30 and 35.
09:17The MiG-29 has doors that automatically shut on its intakes to keep them from inhaling debris.
09:23During takeoff and landing, the MiG's engine breathes through slits at the top of the wings.
09:30They build airplanes like tanks.
09:32The U.S. Air Force and the West builds airplanes like fine watches.
09:37The U.S. builds sleek, sophisticated fighters that require teams of trained specialists to service them.
09:45Leading the pack are the Navy's big F-14 Tomcat and the F-18 Hornet.
09:51Small and agile, the F-18 is good for both ground attacks and air combat.
09:58The heavier F-14 carries a larger weapons load and more fuel than the F-18.
10:09The primary jet of the U.S. Air Force is the single-engine F-16 Fighting Falcon.
10:15The F-16 is the first fighter jet to be built in the U.S. Air Force.
10:21The primary jet of the U.S. Air Force is the single-engine F-16 Fighting Falcon.
10:27It provides excellent visibility, the fastest, tightest turn rate of anything in the air, and pilot comfort.
10:34The lightweight plane fits around the pilot like a glove.
10:38He doesn't so much fly this jet as wear it.
10:44The F-16 is the Porsche of airplanes.
10:47I mean, it handles great, it goes fast, it feels good.
10:54The seats recline to help you with the G-forces.
11:01Everything's right out here like a big video game, and it's a sweet ride.
11:07While the Russians admire American planes, they consider them almost too delicate for the rigors of war.
11:15Our military aircraft was designed for battle. It's built for war, not to just stand there and look pretty.
11:21Here, behind me, you have an example of this. You can't break this plane.
11:25You could land it on its fuselage, and they'd come out, pick it up, lower the landing gear, clear the engine, and you could take off again.
11:32We go at it with a scalpel, trying to very, very carefully hone the capability, build the weapon.
11:39They go at it with a sledgehammer.
11:42Two design bureaus, originally under strict control of the Soviet government, are responsible for the look and performance of Russia's top fighter jets.
11:51The Mikoyan Bureau created the MiG-29, a small, potent fighter for close-in air duels,
11:58and the MiG-31, a long-range interceptor for patrolling Russia's vast borders.
12:04From the Sukhoi Bureau came the Su-25, a flying tank for ground support missions.
12:12Sukhoi also developed the Su-27 and the Su-35, both fighter bombers.
12:23The Russians also claim they have the best ejection seat in the world, seen here in test footage.
12:30The seat propels the pilot out and away from the fuselage with a force of 20 Gs, while restraining his arms and legs.
12:42You know, it's bad manners here to compare what's mine to what's yours.
12:46But when I flew in the F-18, it took half an hour to buckle me into the seat.
12:50It's just not practical.
12:52In the final analysis, this can really reduce the battle readiness of America's Air Force.
12:56Here we just jump in and buckle up.
12:59In your planes, one person can't do it himself.
13:01You've got hands and legs going everywhere.
13:05The Paris Air Show of 1989, the world saw a dramatic demonstration of the Russian ejection seat,
13:13when test pilot Anatoly Kovachur bailed out of his crippled MiG-29 at less than 300 feet.
13:21Kovachur walked away from the accident.
13:36Russian jets also have fire-resistant fuel tanks,
13:39which kept this MiG-29 crash on takeoff from exploding in mid-air.
13:45Russian test pilots were among the first to experience extreme G-force
13:49in the days before its effects on the human body were understood.
13:56Yet even today, Russian fighters wear only a partial armor,
14:00and their firepower is only a fraction of that of a fighter jet's.
14:04G-force in the days before its effects on the human body were understood.
14:11Yet even today, Russian fighters wear only a partial G-suit,
14:15more like a girdle that fills with air to force blood back to the body's major organs and prevent blackout.
14:22We always try to wear the maximum amount of G-protection we can get.
14:25Now we're even talking about full G-suits that go from your neck all the way down.
14:30In Russia, there's also maybe a bit more of a, I'd say, a macho attitude toward flying.
14:36They sometimes do not wear G-suits in their airplanes.
14:40Sometimes wear an abbreviated G-suit.
14:42So in the West, we would probably be a bit shocked at that.
14:47In the breakneck race for faster, deadlier fighters,
14:50Soviet Russia and the U.S. built machines that reach speeds in excess of Mach 2,
14:56twice the speed of sound.
14:59Maneuvers in the Su-27 or F-16 can put up to nine times the force of gravity on the pilot.
15:07But it is how the two countries employ this technology that sets them apart.
15:13Russia's Air Force believes in preparing for the close, dirty air duel
15:17where pilot skill and maneuverable aircraft are the keys to victory.
15:22Part of the difference in mentality between the Russians and the West as well
15:26has been the belief that the dogfighting mission has never left.
15:30Over the years, we as Americans have always tried to ditch this mission.
15:34After World War I, we said the dogfight was over.
15:37After World War II, the dogfight was over.
15:39Then, no, then after Korea, no, no, now it's over.
15:42The Russians have always believed in the dogfight.
15:45They've never left it. All of their airplanes reflect it.
15:49In the West, Russian pilots were often seen as unimaginative flyers,
15:54slaves to commands from the ground.
16:00In reality, they are quite innovative and daring.
16:03They perfected this maneuver, which they say can only be done in their Su-27 class of jets.
16:10Known as the Cobra, it resembles that deadly snake coiled for attack.
16:23In a duel situation, if two aircraft are closely matched, it's hard to win the duel.
16:28The Cobra lets a pilot who's being pursued rise above and slide behind his adversary,
16:33thus becoming the pursuer.
16:35The designers and pilots hope that with the aid of this Cobra maneuver,
16:38this very quick short-term jump to a high angle of attack,
16:41we hope to be able to fire a rocket or get into range to use a rocket.
16:47It's a last-ditch maneuver.
16:49It's something a pilot would do to shake somebody off of his tail.
16:51It's very effective for that.
16:53But, again, it's something we normally don't do in the West.
16:56The Cobra recalls an earlier time in Russian history
17:00when another Russian fighter, the Su-27,
17:04when another, even more heart-stopping maneuver was adopted,
17:08the Taran, or deliberately ramming an enemy's airplane.
17:17Taran was first employed in World War I by Peter Nesterov,
17:21who ran his propeller into the tail of an Austrian bomber.
17:25He did this because he ran out of ammunition.
17:30And Nesterov, the practitioner, the pioneer of this technique, died.
17:35But his example lived on.
17:43In World War II, which Russians call the Great Patriotic War,
17:47the Taran reappeared.
17:59Taran has run out of ammunition.
18:01He can't simply leave the battlefield, return home and say,
18:04You guys keep on fighting. I'm going home.
18:07After all, that would be desertion.
18:09This pilot must continue with the battle.
18:29They had to hate their enemy a lot to be capable of doing this.
18:32And we call the pilots who were capable of doing this strong in spirit.
18:36It was only the strong in spirit who could carry out attacks like this.
18:40And we know that the fascist pilots did not do this type of attack.
18:44They were too afraid.
18:46For the Soviets at the beginning of the war,
18:49it was a pretty good calculation to take an I-16 fighter,
18:54a pre-war obsolete fighter,
18:57and ram it into a high-performance modern German bomber.
19:01I mean, the tradeoff was very compelling.
19:07And awaiting you would be the highest award the Soviets gave,
19:11Hero of the Soviet Union.
19:14The first Taran hero who survived to tell about it was Victor Talaikin.
19:20He later perished in his second Taran attempt.
19:23Russia claims over 600 such kills during the war.
19:27But Taran was not a suicide mission like the Japanese kamikaze.
19:31The Russian is more studied.
19:33It has a certain element of desperation about it.
19:36It has the same sort of courage the Japanese had,
19:38but it has no desire to kill.
19:40It has the same sort of courage the Japanese had,
19:42but it has no religious underpinning to it at all.
19:45It's kind of an expedient thing to do.
19:48It comes out of a calculation that's made in the midst of battle.
19:53And most important, it's voluntary.
19:55You know, you're not part of a group of Taran pilots.
19:59There were never anything such as that.
20:03Russia's was a difficult and bloody path to high technology,
20:07revolution, two world wars, and Stalin's purges.
20:11Throughout the 20th century, there's always been a tendency in the West,
20:16particularly among Anglo-American observers,
20:19to discount Russian aeronautical achievements.
20:26It was the Russians who invented strategic bombing in World War I,
20:30using squadrons of their four-engine Ilya Muromets biplanes.
20:37It was big. It was huge.
20:39In fact, it was the first really big airplane in the world.
20:43While German aces and small fighters began shooting these planes out of the sky,
20:48the aerial dogfight was born.
20:52With cockpit-mounted machine guns and pistols,
20:55pilots in the Imperial Air Fleet of Tsar Nicholas II honed their dogfight skills.
21:01They were the sons of aristocrats,
21:03their planes mainly French and British models.
21:08When Russia's civil war erupted,
21:10a mix of these same foreign planes battled each other
21:13in the struggle of the whites against the reds.
21:17It was the last stand for the Tsar's air force.
21:20In 1917, the Bolshevik regime took up the banner of combat aviation,
21:26along with a new breed of pilots.
21:30Lenin felt that, like a lot of people did in the 20th century,
21:34the airplane was emblematic of everything that was modern.
21:38So the Bolsheviks did show an early appreciation of aviation,
21:41and later on, under Stalin, they of course would showcase it
21:44as one of the great achievements of the Bolshevik regime.
22:05Stalin was obsessed with making and breaking world flying records,
22:09using his own group of airborne socialists, the Falcons.
22:13The most famous, Valery Chokolov, was the first man to fly to the North Pole.
22:18But even as he staged these spectacular events,
22:21Stalin was ridding Soviet aviation of undesirable elements.
22:25The officer corps was just decimated,
22:28and great designers, like Andrei Tupolev,
22:32who designed all those marvelous aircraft,
22:34including the Maxim Gorky and the bombers,
22:37he was also arrested.
22:39And between 1939 and 1941,
22:43he was put to work in Moscow as an apprentice pilot
22:48for the Soviet Air Force.
22:51Stalin's concept of Soviet technical progress
22:54reached its most absurd dimensions
22:56with the gargantuan, 70-ton Maxim Gorky.
23:04It had red wings, eight engines,
23:06and speakers that broadcast propaganda to the cheering crowds.
23:10The Gorky was the first of its kind.
23:13It was the first of its kind.
23:15It was the first of its kind.
23:17It broadcast propaganda to the cheering crowds.
23:21It ended in a fated flight in an aerial demonstration
23:25when a smaller aircraft endeavored to do a loop over the Maxim Gorky
23:31and crashed into the wing.
23:35The Gorky's demise foreshadowed the start of the First Great Air War.
23:40In June 1941, the Third Reich's Operation Barbarossa
23:44laid waste to the mighty Red Air Fleet still parked on the ground.
23:48It was a stunning blow to Stalin and the Soviet people
23:51who thought their air power was invincible.
23:59Russia struck back using outdated planes the Luftwaffe had missed.
24:07Brave female pilots flying fragile Po-2 biplanes
24:11made after-dark bombing raids on German troops camped outside Moscow.
24:21Quietly, coolly, they approached the target,
24:24dropped the bombs, and then got out of there.
24:29And so, if you keep this up all night, soldiers need to sleep, right?
24:33But then, after a while, regular as clockwork,
24:36he's just on the verge of sleeping, and here comes another bombing raid,
24:40and it wakes him up, and then they bomb him again,
24:43and so it continues all night.
24:45And so, those girls of ours, the ones that flew the Po-2s,
24:49they were called the Night Witches.
24:52It's all a matter of tactics, right?
24:55Tactics turned out to make all the difference.
24:59The Red Air Fleet became quite good at using tactics over technology.
25:04Resourceful Soviets captured Luftwaffe planes,
25:07painted over their markings,
25:09and flew them back into battle against their creators.
25:14They would also take them apart to see what made them so good.
25:19Meanwhile, Stalin pulled vast resources from the domestic economy
25:23into military industry,
25:25moving 1,500 warplanes and millions of laborers
25:28east beyond the Ural Mountains for protection against air attacks.
25:33By the Battle of Stalingrad,
25:35Soviet Russia had its own ground attack fighter,
25:38the Il-2 Sturmovik.
25:46Sometimes machine gun fire at oblique angles
25:48would just bounce off the aircraft.
25:50It was very sturdy, very difficult to shoot down
25:53because of its resilience.
25:56And this is the very kind of aircraft that the Soviets delighted in using.
26:06The Battle of Kuban
26:13In the battle over Kuban in 1943,
26:16Soviet fliers overwhelmed the Luftwaffe
26:18with their improved dogfighting techniques,
26:21led by their top aides with 59 Nazi kills,
26:24Alexander Pokryshkin.
26:31He was not just an outstanding aerial dogfighter,
26:34a man who knew how to shoot down enemy planes.
26:36He was also a great commander.
26:38He taught his subordinates how they too could shoot down enemy planes.
26:50Pokryshkin was once asked,
26:53having downed 59 German aircraft,
26:57why he never used the Turan.
26:59And his rueful answer was,
27:01I never ran out of ammunition.
27:04By the closing years of the war,
27:06all the major powers were seeking faster planes.
27:11Piston engines and propellers limited airspeed to 500 miles an hour.
27:16Like Germany, Russia had already experimented with rocket planes.
27:25But rocket planes weren't maneuverable.
27:27They burned straight and fast.
27:31A new form of propulsion was needed,
27:33the turbojet.
27:37The British Labour government in 1946
27:39helped the Russians leap ahead
27:41by making them a gift of the best jet engines in the world,
27:45the Rolls-Royce Neen.
27:47Stalin's response?
27:49Who would be so stupid as to give us their best engines?
27:53Once they acquired these engines from the British,
27:57they were able to upgrade them, improve them,
28:01in terms of their metallurgy.
28:04They were very advanced.
28:06And so by the time you get to the Korean War,
28:08they had jet engines that are equal to,
28:11or in some cases maybe superior,
28:13depending on what you're talking about,
28:15to what the Anglo-Americans might have had at that time.
28:20But ever since World War II,
28:22the Soviets had been building their military strength.
28:25Their threat of world domination was real.
28:31The big shock in Korea
28:33was the appearance of a stout, fast,
28:35extremely maneuverable fighter jet
28:37built by Soviet Russia, the MiG-15.
28:43They were flown by North Korean pilots,
28:46but their early kill rate against the Americans was astonishing.
28:50Now it is known that there were also Russian aces
28:54in the cockpits of those MiGs.
28:56The Russian participation in the Korean War
28:59even today is a shadowy episode,
29:02and slowly we're seeing in memoirs and articles
29:06and historical literature
29:08more candor and detail about what the Soviets did.
29:17In Korea, our Soviet pilots flew this aircraft
29:20and scored many victories against the American F-86 Sabre.
29:30I could cite the example of Shutyagin,
29:33a hero of the Soviet Union.
29:35He received this distinction in Korea
29:37for shooting down 11 American Sabres.
29:40In the middle was Shabja, who shot down either five or six.
29:44Yes, there were such pilots.
29:49We also have pilots who participated in this war
29:53and unfortunately did not shoot down any aircraft.
29:56There were also pilots like that.
30:02Korea was the last reputed use of Tehran,
30:05though enthusiasts believe there's still a place for it
30:08in modern warfare.
30:10What if an enemy aircraft has closed in on you from the side?
30:14What will you do?
30:15You can't shoot him and you can't fire a missile.
30:17He's too close.
30:18Well, it could happen.
30:20There's a lot to think about with these things.
30:23But today, thoughts of Tehran lie far away
30:26from both sides of the old Cold War.
30:29The clearly defined foe has temporarily vanished.
30:49In mythical Camelot, King Arthur gazed about his round table
30:52and bemoaned how the lack of enemies
30:54had made his once glorious knights idle and dull.
30:58But Russia's warriors have not become slack in peacetime,
31:02despite what a westerner might make of this scene.
31:05In Russia, it is not politically incorrect
31:08to drink, smoke, and pull nine Gs the next morning.
31:13These are the Ruskiya Vidyatsi, or Russian knights,
31:17enjoying a day off with members of the Sky Hussars and Martins.
31:22These men were once known as the Gar,
31:24the Soviet front-line air defense fighters who protected Moscow.
31:30Generally speaking, we never had hostile feelings
31:33toward the American people nor toward American pilots.
31:36Decent people are valued by all of us,
31:39and so it turns out we were not enemies.
31:42The Cold War was not between the people of America and the Russian people.
31:46It was between Russian and American politicians.
31:52The Russian Air Force has always viewed itself as defending the homeland.
31:57They like to point out that America has fought all its air wars far from home.
32:06The Russian people never go looking for enemies
32:09because our history has been so very bloody,
32:12and so there are no major plans,
32:14since we are purely defensive, not offensive forces.
32:22With the Cold War over, these men are relieved old hostilities have ended,
32:27but their mission remains unchanged to guard the skies over Moscow.
32:34Their home base is Kubinka, tucked in the countryside west of the capital.
32:42Once this place did not appear on Soviet maps.
32:45Westerners were forbidden to visit.
32:47Today, security is considerably more relaxed.
32:52Since the collapse of Soviet Russia,
32:54the biggest problem is money for fuel and getting pilots enough air time.
33:05So Kubinka pilots have taken on the additional role
33:08of aerobatic flying in air shows, which pays for their practice.
33:22Air Show
33:46This formation flying is not as innocent as it appears.
33:50Unlike the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, who fly special stripped-down F-18s,
33:54Kubinka pilots fly the same military jets they would take into battle,
33:58and they alternate between aerobatic drills and training for actual combat.
34:05I can be flying loop-de-loops here today,
34:07and tomorrow I'll be at the military training ground dropping bombs and firing my cannon.
34:16And also, our aircraft aren't sports aircraft.
34:19They're military aircraft.
34:21At any time, we can just load up some rockets
34:23and take off without any downtime in between.
34:27Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Gornev is commander of the Sky Hussars at Kubinka.
34:32He has reached the highest level a combat pilot can achieve,
34:36that of blue-cheeked sniper.
34:39That means that I can place 30 of 30 warheads right on target.
34:43My experience allows me to sight better than most pilots and destroy the targets.
34:48I don't have any problem whatsoever with destroying moving targets.
34:55I'll fly in, it'll only take me two or three rounds, and I'll take care of it.
35:00That's why I'm a blue-cheeked sniper.
35:04Russian pilots sign on for 25 years of service, as they did in the Soviet Air Force.
35:17Gornev says training today is much the same as it always was.
35:23We don't prepare ourselves for any specific enemy, no.
35:26We prepare ourselves to be ready to fight.
35:29Whom we fight does not matter.
35:31What difference is there?
35:33I mean, the maneuvers will be the same.
35:35The tactics will be the same.
35:39I'm not going to lie to you.
35:41I'm not going to lie to you.
35:43I'm not going to lie to you.
35:45I'm not going to lie to you.
35:47I'm not going to lie to you.
35:49The tactics will be the same.
35:55Our mission was always to master the technical aspects of our tactical maneuvers,
35:59to learn how to use them skillfully.
36:01And who cares what kind of insignia is on the other plane?
36:04Lord, he won't ask me if I have a cross or a star on my fuselage.
36:08He's an enemy. Shoot him down and then move on.
36:10That's it.
36:14The Sukhoi-27 has advanced electronic weapon systems.
36:18It will lock on to and attack two targets 40 miles away.
36:22But Russian electronics are not as sophisticated as U.S. systems,
36:26and the Russians aren't as confident that battles can be won
36:29without actually seeing the enemy.
36:33All Russian fighter jets are equipped for close fights
36:36with the biggest gun in the business,
36:38a 30-millimeter cannon that fires 50 rounds per second.
36:41But they also carry bombs and medium- and long-range missiles.
36:49The Russians believe air combat will always degenerate into a tight tangle.
36:58So these front-line defense pilots at Kubinka prepare for the inevitable
37:02by engaging each other in close-contact dogfights.
37:19All these airplanes have been dogfighters,
37:22and as of yet, they have not left that mission.
37:25I think it's smart, because basically once a furball happens,
37:29once you get merged in this large fight,
37:32you're going to have to visually acquire and outmaneuver your target.
37:40In Russian dogfight training,
37:42there are critical maneuvers every pilot is expected to master,
37:45One is the kolokol, or bell.
37:52As fighters like the MiG-29 or Su-27 move in close for the duel,
37:56they lose airspeed and can fall into a tailslide.
37:59The bell teaches pilots how to correct this potentially fatal situation.
38:16The bell is a maneuver for training pilots
38:20how to control their plane at zero airspeed,
38:23so they won't be afraid of these speeds
38:26and will know what to do if they encounter them.
38:29This kind of situation, a loss of airspeed, can happen in aerial combat.
38:35The jet hangs vertically for what seems like minutes.
38:38As gravity pulls the plane earthward,
38:41the pilot tips the nose down, then maneuvers for recovery.
38:53It goes to show you again what the Russians are willing to do
38:56to max perform their airplanes.
38:58They really want to push them to the limits.
39:00They want to know exactly how far this airplane can go in combat
39:03and what it can and can't do.
39:11Though now at peace with the Russians,
39:13America and its NATO allies still eye them with caution.
39:21That's because Russia is selling jets and training pilots
39:24for countries not friendly with the West.
39:27I don't trust anybody unless they're wearing their stars and stripes.
39:30I mean, you just don't know who your enemies are going to be
39:33tomorrow, the day after tomorrow.
39:41A warrior's son rises over the Naval Air Station at Oceana, Virginia.
39:49Here, a select group of Navy flyers
39:51train to fight an unknown enemy in a Russian jet.
40:00The so-called adversaries at Oceana fly Navy F-18s,
40:04painted to look like the Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum,
40:07but the tail logo is a vaguely Arabic symbol,
40:10a reminder of the Gulf War,
40:12where U.S. forces faced predominantly Soviet technology.
40:16Our worst nightmare, if you will,
40:18of going head-to-head with the Soviets,
40:20which would certainly be bloody and painful,
40:24has been diminished,
40:26but there's still plenty of other things going on.
40:28It can be pretty scary,
40:30and all it takes is for one MiG-29 out there to shoot at you,
40:33and it could ruin your whole day.
40:36Thirteen miles.
40:39Fox one. Fox one.
40:41Oh, Jesus.
40:43The Western dogfight differs from Russia's
40:46in that it relies on electronic surveillance and weapon systems
40:50to engage the enemy beyond visual range.
40:56Good hit. Good hit on one.
40:58Roger that.
40:59In other words, we want to just fire our weapons and kill him
41:02before he even knows we're there.
41:08Certainly you need high technology.
41:11You need equipment that's going to work right.
41:13You need to be able to reach out and touch somebody.
41:16But what you can't forget is that you have to be able to train.
41:25Like Russia, the U.S. military is having trouble paying for fighter training.
41:29In recent years, money for dogfight programs has been severely reduced,
41:33and greater emphasis placed on preparing for surgical bombing missions
41:37like those in Desert Storm.
41:39Oceana is one of the last remaining air-to-air fighter programs.
41:46We've just stood down all the aggressor squadrons in the Air Force.
41:49There are none.
41:50The Navy is toning down its aggressor training.
41:52Somebody famous said, and I don't know who it is,
41:55you fight like you train, and when you quit training,
41:58you're going to lose that edge.
42:00You're going to lose that warfighting capability.
42:02And I think that the worst thing that they could do
42:05would be to shut these adversary squadrons down.
42:09One irony of the post-Cold War era is that former enemies now face the same dilemma,
42:15how to continue financing what it takes to stay in this game.
42:20As they've done time and again,
42:22the Russians turn their desperation into a practical solution.
42:27They keep the cold, hard cash coming in
42:30by selling rides in their combat jets.
42:35The power of this.
42:37Oh, it's almost beyond description.
42:40One of the most exciting, the most exciting thing I've ever done in my life.
42:48The sacred realm of the Russian fighter pilot
42:51is being invaded by Western thrill-seekers.
42:55For the person who is not quite ready for G-loads,
42:59there may be the instant loss of eyesight.
43:03But it will pass very quickly.
43:05You won't even notice it.
43:07John Karasiewicz, a young California electronics specialist
43:11who loves fighter jet video games,
43:13couldn't resist when he learned he could fly the Genuine Article for $15,000.
43:20Requirements for the joyride were not very stringent,
43:23just the most cursory physical exam.
43:27Then a briefing from pilot Alex Garnayev,
43:30which assured the student of a gut-wrenching ride.
43:33The minimum is you make first half of the loop and then half roll.
43:39This is minimum.
43:40And so, all others I'll explain you.
43:43We'll mention the order of the joyride.
43:45And so, all others I'll explain you.
43:48We'll mention the order of the ejection once more,
43:51and then we'll fly.
43:55If you are ready, we'll go and change.
43:57I think so.
44:04Call sign, jet lag.
44:06Suit up was followed by a brief lesson in use of the K-36 ejection seat.
44:15Eject, eject, eject.
44:33With John buckled into the cockpit,
44:35there was one small final detail, signing the release form.
44:46The problem with high-performance military flying is it's extremely harsh.
44:51You're looking at an environment that no human being was meant to be stuck in.
44:58And just the acceleration alone, going down the runway,
45:01will put your stomach in the back of the airplane.
45:05And just the acceleration alone, going down the runway,
45:08will put your stomach in the back of the airplane.
45:34Airplane sounds
45:56You put a person in an airplane like this,
45:58and their inner ear spins, they're pulling many G's,
46:01they're going upside down.
46:04Airplane sounds
46:15The afterburner, when you light it, it just absolutely thumps you in the back.
46:18It kicks in, immediately presses you in the back of the seat, and off you go.
46:21It's like being thrown out of a slingshot.
46:26Airplane sounds
46:29The problem is that most people don't realize how violent it's going to be.
46:34And as a result, what happens is they get in it,
46:36they don't know they're getting sick,
46:38and all of a sudden, they're getting sick.
46:46And before you know it, they're back there.
46:48Then, a little too late, they're throwing up in a mask.
46:51And I call this kind of the zoom, boom, throw-open-your-helmet ride,
46:55which is a terrible thing to do to a human being, really.
46:58Airplane sounds
47:07I am not feeling too well right now.
47:11But you really have to become acclimated to this kind of flying.
47:14It takes a little while. Anybody can, but it takes a little while.
47:20I will say this, at first it seems like a blur,
47:24but after you're through, you know you've done something that's quite unique.
47:31I'm a little bit woozy.
47:34I don't know if I can get out of the plane just yet.
47:41Where's Vladimir?
47:43Where is that guy?
47:47Come here. Thank you.
47:49How are you?
47:50Very good.
47:52Vladimir, you can be my wingman anytime.
48:01Along with selling rides, Russia makes money selling modified Su-27s
48:05to clients like the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
48:08China just arranged to buy 72 of these advanced fighters
48:12as a prelude to licensing their production.
48:16The smaller MiG-29 has even more customers.
48:20Over 1,000 have been given to the Ukraine by treaty
48:24or sold to countries like Pakistan, Iraq, Peru, Cuba and Vietnam.
48:30And it's not just planes Russia's peddling.
48:33It's some awesome firepower as well.
48:37Not only MiG-29 and Su-27,
48:41but they are now working hard to provide all those modern weapons systems
48:45for such old aircraft as MiG-21
48:48because there are over 4,000 MiG-21s all over the world.
48:52And if somebody modifies it and establishes new weapons systems,
48:56it becomes almost as effective as, say, F-16.
49:02Russia is already flying their new Su-35,
49:06a 27 with improved electronics,
49:08a new wing edge and canards under the nose
49:11for more violent turning capability.
49:16And rumor has it Russia is also working on its next generation MiG fighter,
49:21which could incorporate stealth features similar to the American F-117 or F-22.
49:28Some new technologies are coming and they're very close,
49:32which will allow also to change the whole conception of a maneuverable fighter.
49:45Even more than the West, Russia made huge sacrifices
49:49in its domestic economy and in human lives
49:52to become the air power it is today.
49:57Nowhere does that felt more strongly than in this place,
50:01where generations of Russian pilots
50:03who gave their lives for the motherland are honored.
50:10This is the Memorial Cemetery in Zhukovsky.
50:13This is a holy place in the town.
50:21This is the place where test pilots are buried.
50:24Today is the anniversary, the 13th anniversary of my husband's death.
50:31He was killed in an air crash 13 years ago on that particular day.
50:36That's why I'm here.
50:38Families come to the graves, to the tombs,
50:43pilots, friends come and recollect some
50:49scenes from the pilot's life, a lot of recollections.
51:01And traditionally they drink vodka,
51:07wine and eat something.
51:12This is the tradition.
51:14If something is left in the glass,
51:18usually they leave just several drops of vodka at the bottom
51:24and then they pour it on the grave.
51:30The final toast to fallen comrades,
51:33a universal gesture repeated countless times
51:36since the dawn of combat aviation
51:39by pilots of all nations.
51:47I was talking with one of the Russian pilots yesterday
51:50before we flew and we were saying
51:54how sad it is that we love to fly machines that kill.
51:59The reality is the best machines,
52:02the most beautiful machines are designed to kill.
52:06It's a very, very strong tug-of-war inside a pilot
52:09that he has to think about employing this against somebody
52:12that he would probably like sitting in a bar with and having a drink.
52:17We wouldn't look forward to a conflict.
52:19If they ordered us to do it, well, then of course we would.
52:22But I personally wouldn't want to.
52:24Pilots all love flying.
52:25That's what they love more than anything else.
52:27They don't love killing.
52:28They don't love killing.
52:29They don't love killing.
52:31Pilots all love flying.
52:32That's what they love more than anything else.
52:34They don't love killing.
52:35That's not the issue.
52:36But to fly the most advanced and most wonderful airplanes,
52:38where are they?
52:39They're in the military.
52:40So you gravitate toward those powerful, beautiful, sleek airplanes.
52:45The powerful airplanes of the Russian Air Force
52:47and the tough, pragmatic men who fly them
52:50helped make Russia a potent threat for nearly a century.
52:54The Russian Air Force has known hardship throughout its painful history,
52:58only to emerge a leaner, more formidable foe.
53:01Though now in economic and political crisis,
53:04the Russians will not easily surrender their hard-won position
53:07as leaders in combat aviation.
53:10Using practical, if desperate, measures,
53:12they continue their relentless pursuit of Slavo-Ruskoi Aviatsii,
53:17the glory of Russian aviation.
53:29Novo-On-Line
53:33Blistering speeds, death-defying maneuvers.
53:36Novo-On-Line takes you inside the cockpit of a Russian fighter plane.
53:41Target PBS.org
53:59To order this show for $19.95 plus shipping and handling,
54:03call 1-800-255-9424.
54:08And to learn more about how science can reveal the truth
54:11and solve the mysteries of our world,
54:14ask about our many other NOVA videos.
54:20Next time on NOVA...
54:21I really didn't know what was going on
54:23until the thing started shaking me really hard.
54:25It just opened up and its jaw actually just came out of its mouth.
54:28You pretty much know exactly what it is.
54:30It's something wanting to eat you, you know,
54:32and you want to get the hell out of there.
54:34Shark Attack
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