Last November 8th, the day of the election of the President of the United States, in the skies of the 51 Area a fought maneuver was carried out between an F-16 and a Su-27 Flanker Russian. Photos were made by Phil Drake and are available on his blog.
Although the presence of Russian aircraft is not a secret, there are up to four Su-51s in the 27 Area, it is a fairly rare fact to be able to photograph them on the skies of one of the secret bases in US territory.
The base of Nevada Groom Lake, also known as Area 51, has for decades been at the center of every compliment theory. The site has become a loneliness mirror: there are at least nine other bases in the US such as the 51 Area used to test classified asset classes. The photos were taken from the Tikaboo Valley, about 20 miles east of the base.
This is the story of Phil Drake: "A few years after my last visit, I returned to 51 area hoping to photograph the latest military prototypes during the test. I witnessed several fights maneuvering between F-15 and F-16 on my first day. Things got interesting on the second day of stalking near the base. While I was considering whether to move to another area, such as the Queen City Summit or the Powerlines Overlook, my attention was immediately turned to an aircraft just taken off from the base of Groom Lake. For the first time I managed to frame a Su-27. They were about the 15. A few seconds later, an F-16 took off from the same base".
The two hunters perform intercepting maneuvers at different altitudes, from twenty to thirty feet, but only two miles east of their position.
"After about fifteen minutes, the two fighters entered the battle. Su-27's agility is impressive. After about 25 minutes, the dogfight ended and the two aircraft landed on the Groom Lake track".
The photos are of poor quality due to the operational altitude of the two fighters, but the aerodynamic profiles of the aircraft are clearly identifiable. The Su-27s in the 51 area have previously been identified in the 2003. The last sighting dates back to 2014, when it was first mentioned by the US military.
The role of the 51 Area
The first MiG-21 (pictured below), designated YF-110, was lent to the United States at 1966 after the Israeli secret services demanded the plane from an Iraqi captain. The Air Force kept the MiG-21 itself for more than three months at the 51 Area. The hunt was tested and tested against US aircraft of the time in air-to-air combat, in an attempt to develop new advanced tactics. The MiG-21 was later returned to the Israelis in April of the 1968.
In the 51 Area, a MiG-1960 was also tested in the 17. American pilots, in the maneuvers with the MiGs called Have Drill e Have Ferry, made 224 flights. Thanks to the Have Doughnut program, Americans have studied several platforms over the years: MiG-17, MiG-21, MiG-29, Mig-31 and Sukhoi-27.
The Russians have certainly studied F-14, F-15, F-16 hunting and U-2 spy aircraft. Always the KGB may have had partial access to the B-1 bomber project. But the list could be much longer. Although these data are not refutable, as taken from the declassified documents of the National Security Archive of George Washington University, the maneuvering battle occurred last November 8 ignores virtually everything.
Su-27 could also be part of a private fleet. Due to budget cuts, the Air Force can no longer afford to keep the Red Air, squadron who for years has simulated the Russian fighters in close combat so as to develop unconventional flight tactics. Private riders, as well as their aircraft, are a valid test stand for Air Force aviation tactics at a significantly lower cost than standard training.
The Air Force has deleted the 65th Aggressor Squadron, which for years has simulated the Russian counterpart with the F-15C. Economic restrictions, however, do not apply to bases such as the 51 Area, used to host and test secret prototypes in the black programs of the various agencies and special divisions of major defense contractors. That's why the main tests in the 51 Area take place at night, so it happened for U-2, F-117, SR-71, B-1 and B-2.
Feeding theories on alien prototypes is an excellent cover. Last March, Lockheed Martin confirmed the existence of the first operational hypersonic platform on the planet. Two SR-72 prototypes (picture on the right) have been flying for some time thanks to classified programs.
The Aurora Program
We know that between the years 80 and 90, Skunk Works got money for some Black Projects that gave life to the F-117 as, previously, also to the spy U-2 aircraft. There black aircraft production of Lockheed, obtained financing for several billion dollars, were 5 in the years' 90, for the "production of a system covered by military secret" never made known. It has never been identified, but over the years we have seen numerous "UFOs" in the sky. As we have always reiterated, the gap between the secret and the known experimental technology is about 25 / 30 years. In 98% of cases, what you see in the sky responds to terrestrial physics. In the remaining 2%, we could also agree with the Drake equation.
The main advantage of the SR-72 is the "persistent recognition". Invisible to the radar (to a large extent of them), it could fly deep into the enemy air space and would circumvent the problem of satellites confined by their orbits. If armed, SR-72 could hit any planet's target in 90 minutes. One wonders, however, the real cost of an operating fleet considering the existing alternatives. The first and probably the most realistic one would be to arm submarines with hypersonic missiles.
(photo: Phil Drake / נחום עסיס / Lockheed Martin Corporation)
