MiGs Over Nevada

MiGs Over Nevada
Author: T. D. Barnes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 453
Release: 2019-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9781086867558

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.

Migs Over Nevada

Migs Over Nevada
Author: T. D. Barnes
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2015-09-16
Genre:
ISBN: 9781517369934

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 and approved the author's printing of this book. 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.

Migs Over Nevada

Migs Over Nevada
Author: Thornton D. Barnes
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2014-05-13
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9781499551655

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.

Red Eagles

Red Eagles
Author: Steve Davies
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008-09-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781846033780

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.

Area 51

Area 51
Author: Annie Jacobsen
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 604
Release: 2011-05-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0316193852

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.

My Odyssey to Area 51

My Odyssey to Area 51
Author: Thornton Barnes
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013-05-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781489570147

My Odyssey to Area 51 by Thornton D. "TD" Barnes is his autobiography and personal account of the CIA selected him to work at Area 51. The book follows his odyssey through his childhood on a ranch in New Mexico, his military career, involvement with the NSA, CIA, and NASA that brought him to Area 51. Barnes is a veteran of the NASA High Range and Groom Lake where he and others pioneered the NASA X-15, XB-70, and Lifting Bodies. The CIA recruited Barnes, a hypersonic flight support specialist with a missile and radar background for a special projects team during the CIA's A-12 Project OXCART at Area 51 where he remained as Special Projects cadre for the Soviet MiG exploitation programs, and the early days of pioneering stealth aircraft and drones. The content is declassified.

Aviation Legends of the Battle Born State

Aviation Legends of the Battle Born State
Author: T. D. Barnes
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2017-08-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9781974617555

Nevada, the Battle Born state was selected as the nation's west coast line of defense during World War II. Ever since, Nevada has hosted the Army Air Corps, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, US Army, and the Navy for the development of the nation's most highly classified activities and achievements that played a large part in winning the Cold War and all other wars in between. The state of Nevada has been a Mecca for independent people who wanted to do new and different things. Among the state's unique accomplishments were the pioneering of space travel during which Nevada produced more astronauts than any other state. Nevada hosted the development of nuclear power for space exploration and as a deterrent to aggression by our enemies. The state's development and testing of the accouterments of space, war, and defense have contributed to our nation's successes. With the initial U-2 plane flight tests at Groom Lake, almost every flight established a new world altitude record for manned flight. The flights of the CIA's A-12 spy plane at Groom Lake set world altitude and speed records that still stand today. Nevada has continued to exhibit its unique heritage through many aerospace pioneers and programs that have been either based here or in the interest of national security-based elsewhere but commuted to conduct their activities within the state of Nevada. Though these individuals and programs made major contributions to the state of Nevada, the United States, and the free world, little is known of some because many of these aerospace pioneers and icons made sacrifices and contributions in ultra secrecy at locations that even today are not well-known. Contributing to their obscurity, they often used pseudo names in the interest of national security, thus ensuring that they remained nonexistent until declassification of the associated programs. In many instances, national security concerns required these aerospace pioneers to reside in another state and commute to work at secret venues in Nevada. This occurred with the CIA when it chose Nevada for the Agency's Area 51 to develop the U-2 spy plane. Formed 1 December 2008, the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame (NVAHOF) is a non-profit, educational institution dedicated to preserving the legacy of these men and women who pioneered and advanced our nation's aerospace within and above the State of Nevada. NVAHOF serves as an educational tool to assist both researchers and the general public in better understanding the very significant aerospace history of Nevada as well as a means of recognizing those hidden beneath the shroud of secrecy who contributed so much to their country. Executive Director: TD Barnes

Canadian MiG Flights

Canadian MiG Flights
Author: Harold Skaarup
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2008-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0595520715

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.