page_title: List of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 operators
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: List of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 operators / Former operators / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: USAF Fighter Weapons School F-16 flying with a Constant Peg MiG-21 over the Nevada desert, about 1986
context_section_description: United States Air Force. In the 1960s around a dozen MiG-21s were acquired by the U.S. Air Force from various sources. Though from the American point of view the details are a closely held secret, from non-US sources it is well known that six ex-Algerian 'MiG-21F-13's landed at an airbase in Egypt and were captured by Israeli forces, and that four of these were given to the USAF.
  The famous "007" MiG-21F-13 of an Iraqi defector to Israel was also handed over to the Americans; further, at least 13 MiG-21F-13s were sent from Indonesia to the US by President Suharto in the early 1970s. Most of these were not flown in the US, but were taken apart and examined in detail. The U.S. Air Force is reported to have purchased at least 16 MiG-21MF Fishbed Js from Egypt in 1978 and operated to 1988 as part of the CONSTANT PEG program which saw USAF, US Navy and US Marine Corps fighters flying against the Soviet-designed MiG fighters as part of a training where American pilots could better learn how to defeat or evade the Communist bloc's contemporary fighters. It is believed that some years later the USAF acquired from Egypt two additional Su-20 Fitters and two MiG-21U Fishbeds. In 1986, a dozen MiG-21s were purchased from China and the Indonesian MiGs were retired.
  There was at least one MiG-21F-13, however, that was officially operated by the US Air Force as photographs prove. This MiG-21F-13 was given the USAF serial number 68-0965 and was intensively flight-tested in a programme codenamed HAVE DOUGHNUT that took place from January 23 to April 8, 1968. According to some reports, this MiG-21F-13 was the "007" handed over by the Israeli Air Force. It was tested together with a number of other aircraft, including an F-8 Crusader, an F-4B Phantom and a B-52. The final report concluded that the MiG-21F-13 was comparable to USAF types and though it was lacking in range and payload, it was "very manoeuvrable with an excellent rate of climb and acceleration", making it a good interceptor. Its "smokeless" engine was singled out for special praise. Later variants were almost certainly tested after 1969; this is lent weight by the crash of a MiG-23M on Nellis Range on April 26, 1984 in which the pilot, Lt Gen Robert M. Bond was killed, which suggests that the reports of an organisation called "Red Hat Squadron" have a basis in fact. In US service, like with the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the Aircraft, The MiGs in US service were given Century Series designations to cover for their origins and direct attention away. The MiG-21 was given the original designation for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II In USAF service: YF-110, to designate it was "experimental".
caption: MiG-21 in USAF Fighter Weapons School service
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