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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. 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 Soviet Union during the Cold War.〔 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.〔 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 end of 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. ==History== The longest continuing United States classified military airplane program is the testing and evaluation of Foreign Aircraft Technology. During the Cold War, secret test flying of Mikoyan-and-Gurevich Design Bureau (MiG) and other Soviet aircraft was an ongoing mission dating back to the acquisition of the first Soviet-built Yakovlev Yak-23 in 1953. This effort has continued to the present day. Unlike the other "black" airplane programs, such as the Have Blue, Lockheed U-2, or SR-71 Blackbird, Foreign Aircraft Technology operations still remain classified. Despite the declassification of the Constant Peg program in 2006, the evaluation of foreign aircraft likely continues.〔 It is not known exactly the actual number or types of aircraft involved, where they came from, or the complete history of the program. It is estimated that in 1985 the USAF had 26 MiGs (MiG-21s and MiG-23s as MiG-17s had already been phased out) and by the end of the program USAF had mainly MiG-21s. It is known that the activities of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron brought about a fundamental change in United States Air Force and United States Navy / United States Marine Corps air combat tactics. They revitalized the art of dogfighting at a time when, seemingly, it had nearly been forgotten. The knowledge gained from testing the aircraft the squadron flew was reflected in the success of United States air operations during the Vietnam War, as well as the founding of the Air Force's Red Flag program and the United States Navy's TOPGUN school.〔http://aviationweek.com/blog/we-didn-t-know-what-90-percent-switches-did〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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