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Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a MiG-25 Foxbat Jet Fighter, has passed away
The Aviation Geek Club ^ | Nov 22, 2023 | Dario Leone

Posted on 06/30/2025 10:54:45 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?

Viktor Belenko, the former Soviet Air Defence Forces pilot who defected to the West in 1976 in a MiG-25 high-speed interceptor, has passed away on Sep. 24, 2023 Alert 5 first noted.

He died in a nursing home in a small town in Southern Illinois on Sep. 24. However, journalists learned about his death only now. The New York Times quoted Belenko’s son, Paul Schmidt, on Nov. 20 as saying that his father had died after a brief, unspecified illness in a nursing home in Rosebud, Illinois.

Viktor Belenko was born into a simple family of Soviet workers on Feb. 15, 1947, in Nalchik. But he managed to build a military career, making his way into the elite USSR Air Defense Forces, which defended the country from a possible attack from the outside.

On Sep. 6, 1976, then Lt. Belenko flew his MiG-25P fighter to Hakodate Airport in Hokkaido Prefecture of Japan, as the photos in this post show. After circling Hakodate airport three times, Belenko landed at the airport with around 30 seconds of fuel remaining.

As explained by Yefim Gordon in his book Mig-25 ‘Foxbat’ Mig-31 ‘Foxhound’: Russia’s Defensive Front Line, it will probably never be known if Belenko contacted the US military intelligence on his own or was hired by them (there is even a theory that ‘V Belenko’ was just a cover name for a trained agent tasked with stealing the latest Soviet military hardware, shades of Clint Eastwood in Firefox). Investigators found out that the defection was not an impulsive action of a dissatisfied officer – Belenko was expected in Japan and made preparations for the flight. He high-tailed it to Japan the very first time he had a full fuel load, taking the classified technical manuals with him.

(Excerpt) Read more at theaviationgeekclub.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: aviation; belenko; mig25foxbat; migpilot; viktorbelenko
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Didn't find anything posted about his passing. Highly recommend reading the book "Mig Pilot".
1 posted on 06/30/2025 10:54:45 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
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To: where's_the_Outrage?; 04-Bravo; 1FASTGLOCK45; 1stFreedom; 2ndDivisionVet; 2sheds; 60Gunner; ...

Aviation ping!..................


2 posted on 06/30/2025 11:00:02 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Info:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4110483/posts


3 posted on 06/30/2025 11:01:03 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?; SaveFerris

“You must learn to think in Russian”


4 posted on 06/30/2025 11:04:46 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

This points out how comical the cries for “due process” are for illegals. Your citizen staatus determines what legal process you are “due”. The process due a non-citizen seeking to visit our country is different from the process due a citizen.


5 posted on 06/30/2025 11:08:19 AM PDT by cuban leaf (2024 is going to be one for the history books, like 1939. And 2025 will be more so, like 1940-1945.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

The people who vote for the Mamdanis of the world should definitely read it.


6 posted on 06/30/2025 11:08:19 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

A very brave man who did a great service to his new country!


7 posted on 06/30/2025 11:09:25 AM PDT by Midwesterner53
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
I remember reading his story when I was a kid.
8 posted on 06/30/2025 11:09:55 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Heard it was a real rust bucket.


9 posted on 06/30/2025 11:10:52 AM PDT by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.”)
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To: dfwgator

It was posted before. The book he wrote-he was an ideal person to defect. Divorced. As a child his step father gave his own son better pieces of meat and whipped Victor. Thought through all the lies he was told.

Then when the US had the plane our people were afraid to test it-hot potato. Soviets wanted it back and we sent it back in crates. All the info on the plane was given through interviews with the pilot. Wing screws were not flat in areas(under the wing) where it didn’t affect performance.


10 posted on 06/30/2025 11:14:56 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Was this the basis of the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie “Firefox”?


11 posted on 06/30/2025 11:21:48 AM PDT by RainMan ((Democrats ... making war against America since April 12, 1861))
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To: Sirius Lee

The MiG-25 was basically purpose-built to intercept the B-70. While the US cancelled the B-70 (because it was highly vulnerable to SAMs), the Soviets didn’t cancel the MiG-25. It was a fighter really well-adapted to a mission that it could never actually fly.


12 posted on 06/30/2025 11:23:40 AM PDT by Campion (Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - Little Flower)
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To: Sirius Lee

Complete with tube type electronis IIRC. EMP proof but likelynot why they were used.

Engines that needed to be replaced it they ever drove the plane to full sped.


13 posted on 06/30/2025 11:32:53 AM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

He died in a nursing home in a small town in Southern Illinois on Sep. 24.

Surprised the KGB didn’t get to him first?.

R.I.P.


14 posted on 06/30/2025 11:36:33 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Yes. A great read. I particularly liked the parts where he saw every day life in America. Particularly the passage where they take him to a clothing store in a mall in suburban DC. He marveled at the vast selection of items. And only 2 employees to guard them! And the grocery store with seemingly unlimited choices of food. All marked with contents and a fancy cart to put them in. Also, there was no smell of rotten food. When he saw a lady filling here own gas tank at the corner station he was convinced that this was the US version of the Potemkin Village. It took him a while to realize that this was indeed, an ever day occurrence in the US and everything the leaders in the USSR told him about the West was a lie.


15 posted on 06/30/2025 11:37:48 AM PDT by technically right
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To: Red Badger; sit-rep

Meantime, Mathais Rust is a young 57 years old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust


16 posted on 06/30/2025 11:53:11 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: Campion
The MiG-25 was basically purpose-built to intercept the B-70. While the US cancelled the B-70 (because it was highly vulnerable to SAMs), the Soviets didn’t cancel the MiG-25. It was a fighter really well-adapted to a mission that it could never actually fly.

The MiG-25 was also designed to intercept F-108s, SR-71s, U-2s, and the RB/WB-57 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

17 posted on 06/30/2025 11:55:47 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: doorgunner69
Complete with tube type electronis IIRC. EMP proof but likelynot why they were used.

EMP was part of the equation. Better heat tolerance was another.

18 posted on 06/30/2025 11:56:59 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

This man was instrumental in helping end the Cold War.


19 posted on 06/30/2025 11:58:08 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

I know that area of Illinois is quite conservative.

He would have been around people who highly valued him.

Thank you for your service to the world, Viktor.


20 posted on 06/30/2025 12:01:00 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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