4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron
Squadron in the US Air Force / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (4477 TES) was a squadron in the United States Air Force under the claimancy of the Tactical Air Command (TAC). It is currently inactive.[1] The product of Project Constant Peg, the unit was created to expose the tactical air forces to the flight characteristics of fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.[2] The declassified history of the squadron shows that it operated MiG-17s, MiG-21s and MiG-23s between 1977 and 1988, but it was not formally disbanded until July 1990.[3]
4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron | |
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Active | 1 May 1980–15 July 1990 |
Disbanded | Last sorties on 4 March 1988. |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Type | Flight/Squadron |
Role | Foreign Technology Evaluation |
Garrison/HQ | Air Force Flight Test Center (Detachment 3), Nevada Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada |
Nickname(s) | Red Eagles |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Gaillard Peck George Gennin |
Insignia | |
Emblem of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron. Regular Patch | |
Emblem of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (Subdued or camouflaged) | |
Aircraft flown | |
Fighter | Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23. |
Trainer | Northrop T-38 Talon |
Transport | Cessna 404, Mitsubishi MU-2 |
The mission of Constant Peg was to train Air Force, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps pilots and weapon systems officers, in air combat tactics against these foreign aircraft and was instrumental in the re-development of dissimilar air combat training (DACT) methods developed after the Vietnam War. Today's USAF aggressor training squadrons can symbolically trace their histories back to the 4477th, as well as the paint motifs on their aircraft, which were used by the aircraft of the squadron in the 1970s and 1980s.