After confirming that Area 51 was real, the CIA has been declassifying documents about the testing that actually went on. Today, The Guardian showcased documents describing Project Doughnut, a program that tested America’s aerial warfare capabilities against actual Soviet planes before facing them in North Vietnam. But what did Project Doughnut find? In 2010, Air Force Magazine laid out the history and development of the program, which started when Israel helped an Iraqi air force captain defect with a Soviet MiG-21. And an excerpt from an Air Force video, posted by Steve Pribish, shows off the capabilities of the MiG-21 in flight.
The history of Area 51’s secret Soviet fighter jets
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
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