This assortment of mostly Warsaw Pact weapons, later supplemented by captured Iraqi equipment from the Gulf
Wars, was accumulated through a variety of channels and remained highly classified until 1993. Started as a
highly classified program to collect the military equipment of foreign adversaries for the purpose of training USAF
war fighters and knowledge of the program and what was going on behind the walls of the petting zoo was at a
“need to know” level for many years. Eventually declassification of the facility took place in 1993. Today, although
it is not open to the general public, those with access to the base can visit the facility and get up‐close and per‐
sonal with both historic Cold War‐era Soviet and current Russian military hardware. In addition to the Warsaw
Pact equipment, a number of American and Allied systems are included, since these weapons were either sold to
or obtained by governments or entities which are now potential adversaries.
Fighter aircraft include the MiG‐17 Fresco, Sukhoi Su‐7 Fitter, MiG‐21 Fishbed, displayed outside with the MiG‐23
Flogger and MiG‐29 Fulcrum displayed inside. There are actually two MiG‐29s, part of the 21 MiG‐29s the U.S.
government purchased from the former Soviet state of Moldova in 1997, a deal that kept the jets from being sold
to Iran. The one inside is a MiG‐29S “Fulcrum–C” and has been repainted in its original “Guards” colors as it was
during the fighter’s first posting at Moscow’s Kubinka Air Base.
The Mig‐23 Flogger on display is possibly one of the several which were used by the top secret 4477th Red Eagles,
who flew MiG‐17s, MiG‐21s and MiG‐23s. The 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (4477th TES) was a compo‐
nent of the Tactical Air Command, based out of the Tonopah Test Range (aka Groom Lake or Area 51) north‐west
of Las Vegas. The program, known as Constant Peg, was active from 1977 through 1988. Information about this
unit and its activities remained classified until 2006.
Russian helicopters are represented by the Mi‐14 Haze and Mi‐24 Hind. Ground threats include a number of sur‐
face‐to‐air missiles, from the SA‐2 Guideline, which is believed to have downed the U‐2 reconnaissance plane pi‐
loted by Francis Gary Powers over the Soviet Union in 1960, to the SA‐6 Gainful which downed Captain Scott
O’Grady’s F‐16C Fighting Falcon over Bosnia in 1995. There is a profusion of radar systems also on display. Many
of these acquisition and target radars are simulated in the Nevada Test and Training Range, providing US and al‐
lied aviators experience in evading these threats.
Heavy armor runs the gamut from the T‐34 to the T‐80. Various small arms weapons (e.g. AK‐47, RPGs, etc.) are
housed indoors, along with a display of large scale models of Soviet/Russian aircraft.
The outdoor exhibit area changes from time to time, but generally speaking, the majority of the equipment re‐
mains the same. These photos provide you with a peek inside the “petting zoo.” Below are Google Earth images
of the facility with the MiG‐17 Fresco and Su‐7 Fitter in front of the building. The other MiG‐29 is displayed along
with a MiG‐21 on the north‐west side of Kinley Park, where several USAF jets are displayed.