Within Exploit vs Copy
What The Mi G 17 Taught US Pilots
The MiG-17 exploitation programs tested real aircraft to judge US weapons, tactics and pilot assumptions against a known threat.
On this page
- Why the Mi G 17 mattered in air combat
- Testing tactics and weapons against the real aircraft
- How exploitation changed training assumptions
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Introduction
Project Have Drill was one of the clearest demonstrations that reverse engineering foreign military technology does not always mean copying it. Instead of trying to build an American version of the Soviet-designed MiG-17, the United States used a captured aircraft as a flying laboratory. The goal was to discover how American pilots, weapons and tactical assumptions would perform against a real opponent that had already proved dangerous in combat over Vietnam. The results were sobering. Pilots often underestimated the MiG-17 because of its age and relatively simple design, yet testing showed that it could be a formidable adversary in the close-range manoeuvring fights that frequently occurred in Southeast Asia. The programme transformed understanding of air combat and helped shape later training methods that exposed pilots to realistic enemy aircraft before they faced them in war.[f-106deltadart.com]f-106deltadart.comHAVE DRILL/HAVE FERRY TACTICAL EVALUATIONFebruary 7, 2019 — Determine the effectiveness of existing tactics employed by US airplanes and…
Why the MiG-17 Mattered in Air Combat
By the late 1960s, American air forces had encountered the MiG-17 repeatedly in Vietnam. Although it was an older, subsonic fighter, it remained highly effective in visual-range combat. American aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom were faster and carried advanced missiles, but many crews had been trained around expectations of missile engagements rather than sustained dogfights. The MiG-17 exploited that mismatch.[Wikipedia]Wikipedia4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron
Have Drill began after the United States obtained a MiG-17 from Israel and transferred it to the secret test environment at Groom Lake. The aircraft was evaluated not as a technical curiosity but as a realistic threat system. Test planners wanted to know how American fighters actually performed against it, which tactics worked, and where existing doctrine was wrong.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHave DrillHave Drill
The programme’s objectives included:
- Measuring the effectiveness of existing American air-combat tactics.
- Identifying the MiG-17’s strengths and weaknesses in realistic engagements.
- Developing improved techniques to defeat it.
- Exposing operational pilots to a genuine Soviet-designed adversary.[f-106deltadart.com]f-106deltadart.comHAVE DRILL/HAVE FERRY TACTICAL EVALUATIONFebruary 7, 2019 — Determine the effectiveness of existing tactics employed by US airplanes and…
This focus illustrates the difference between exploitation and copying. The value came from understanding an adversary’s operational behaviour, not reproducing its design.
Testing Tactics and Weapons Against the Real Aircraft
The most important feature of Have Drill was that it used actual MiG-17 aircraft rather than intelligence estimates or mock adversaries. Air Force and Navy pilots flew repeated engagements against the aircraft under controlled conditions, allowing analysts to compare assumptions with reality.[f-106deltadart.com]f-106deltadart.comHAVE DRILL/HAVE FERRY TACTICAL EVALUATIONFebruary 7, 2019 — Determine the effectiveness of existing tactics employed by US airplanes and…
The testing quickly revealed that many pilots entered fights with misleading expectations. The MiG-17 was exceptionally dangerous in horizontal turning combat. If an F-4 crew allowed the engagement to become a sustained turning contest, the MiG could often gain a favourable firing position. Navy and Air Force evaluators concluded that the aircraft was far more capable in close manoeuvring combat than many pilots expected.[The Aviation Geek Club]theaviationgeekclub.comThe Aviation Geek ClubHave Doughnut and Have Drill: the classified programs…May 19, 2024 — Have Drill was designed to develop tactics…
Another lesson involved visual acquisition. The MiG-17’s small size, camouflage and limited exhaust trail made it difficult to spot and track. Test reports noted that pilots frequently misjudged range and had trouble maintaining visual contact during their first encounters. By contrast, larger American aircraft were generally easier to detect.[roadrunnersinternationale.com]roadrunnersinternationale.commigs area51The F-5 was also difficult, whereas the F-4 was by far the easiest to locate and engage. It was…Read more…
Weapons employment assumptions were also tested. Analysts found that the F-4’s advantages were strongest when it used speed, acceleration and missile reach rather than entering a low-speed turning contest. The MiG-17’s gun armament was deadly at short range, but its limitations in speed, fuel endurance and high-speed manoeuvring created opportunities for American aircraft that maintained energy and separation.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHave DrillHave Drill
These findings mattered because they came from direct observation. Rather than relying on theoretical performance charts, evaluators watched experienced pilots fight the aircraft repeatedly and documented what succeeded and what failed.
What Surprised American Pilots
One of the most repeated observations from Have Drill was that familiarity bred overconfidence. Many pilots assumed that a fighter designed in the early 1950s would be easy prey for newer American aircraft. Actual engagements often produced the opposite result.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHave DrillHave Drill
Accounts from the programme reported that no Navy pilot defeated the MiG-17 during a first encounter. The aircraft’s manoeuvrability, especially at lower speeds and altitudes, repeatedly surprised crews accustomed to thinking in terms of technological superiority.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHave DrillHave Drill
The programme therefore exposed a broader problem: pilots were often fighting according to assumptions about the enemy rather than knowledge of the enemy. Have Drill replaced those assumptions with measured experience. A pilot who had already seen the MiG’s strengths in training was less likely to be shocked by them in combat.
This represented a major intelligence payoff. The captured aircraft became a training instrument that generated behavioural knowledge, not merely technical specifications.
How Exploitation Changed Training Assumptions
The influence of Have Drill extended well beyond the test flights themselves. Data from the programme was distributed to fighter weapons schools and tactical development organisations, where it informed revised combat doctrine.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHave DrillHave Drill
Several key assumptions changed:
- Dogfighting remained essential. Missile technology had not eliminated close-range combat.
- Energy management mattered more than turning with the enemy. Aircraft such as the F-4 needed to exploit speed and vertical manoeuvres rather than fight on the MiG’s preferred terms.
- Visual tracking skills were critical. Finding and maintaining sight of a small adversary could determine the outcome of an engagement.
- Realistic adversary exposure was indispensable. Pilots learned more from fighting an actual MiG than from studying manuals or intelligence summaries.[roadrunnersinternationale.com]roadrunnersinternationale.commigs area51The F-5 was also difficult, whereas the F-4 was by far the easiest to locate and engage. It was…Read more…
The programme’s lessons fed into broader reforms in air-combat training. Information from Have Drill reached organisations such as the Air Force Fighter Weapons School and the Navy’s Top Gun programme, reinforcing the growing emphasis on dissimilar air combat training, where pilots practised against aircraft that behaved differently from their own.[Wikipedia]WikipediaHave DrillHave Drill
Later initiatives, including the larger and more sustained Constant Peg programme, expanded the idea by exposing thousands of American aircrew to Soviet-designed aircraft in realistic training environments. Those later efforts built directly on the insight demonstrated by Have Drill: a captured enemy aircraft can be more valuable as a teacher than as a blueprint.[Air Force Museum]nationalmuseum.af.milAir Force MuseumCONSTANT PEG: Secret MiGs in the DesertProject Constant Peg was a secret program to train US Air Force, Navy, and Marine…
The Lasting Significance of Have Drill
Project Have Drill remains an important case study in foreign materiel exploitation because it showed that intelligence value can come from operational understanding rather than technological duplication. The MiG-17’s design was not copied into an American fighter. Instead, the aircraft revealed weaknesses in doctrine, training and pilot expectations that could not have been discovered through paperwork alone.[f-106deltadart.com]f-106deltadart.comHAVE DRILL/HAVE FERRY TACTICAL EVALUATIONFebruary 7, 2019 — Determine the effectiveness of existing tactics employed by US airplanes and…
The programme demonstrated a central principle of reverse engineering military technology: sometimes the most important question is not how a foreign system is built, but how it behaves when skilled people use it in combat. By turning a captured MiG-17 into a realistic opponent, Have Drill helped American pilots learn that lesson before encountering the aircraft over a battlefield.[f-106deltadart.com]f-106deltadart.comHAVE DRILL/HAVE FERRY TACTICAL EVALUATIONFebruary 7, 2019 — Determine the effectiveness of existing tactics employed by US airplanes and…
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Endnotes
1.
Source: f-106deltadart.com
Link:https://f-106deltadart.com/pdf-files/Have-Drill-Have-Ferry-Tactical-Evaluation.pdf
Source snippet
HAVE DRILL/HAVE FERRY TACTICAL EVALUATIONFebruary 7, 2019 — Determine the effectiveness of existing tactics employed by US airplanes and...
Published: February 7, 2019
2.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Have Drill
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Drill
3.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4477th_Test_and_Evaluation_Squadron
4.
Source: roadrunnersinternationale.com
Title: migs area51
Link:https://www.roadrunnersinternationale.com/migs_area51.html
Source snippet
The F-5 was also difficult, whereas the F-4 was by far the easiest to locate and engage. It was...Read more...
5.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Tonopah Test Range Airport
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah_Test_Range_Airport
6.
Source: f-106deltadart.com
Link:https://www.f-106deltadart.com/havedoughnut.htm
Source snippet
Have Doughnut | F-106 Delta Dart9 Dec 2025 — Have Doughnut was the name of a Defense Intelligence Agency project whose purpose was to eva...
7.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Mikoyan Gurevich Mi G 17
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-17
Source snippet
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 is a transonic fighter aircraft that was produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and...
8.
Source: theaviationgeekclub.com
Link:https://theaviationgeekclub.com/have-doughnut-and-have-drill-the-classified-programs-that-optimized-the-f-4-phantom-iis-performance-margin-over-the-mig-17-and-mig-21/
Source snippet
The Aviation Geek ClubHave Doughnut and Have Drill: the classified programs...May 19, 2024 — Have Drill was designed to develop tactics...
Published: May 19, 2024
9.
Source: nationalmuseum.af.mil
Link:https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/1682967/constant-peg-secret-migs-in-the-desert/
Source snippet
Air Force MuseumCONSTANT PEG: Secret MiGs in the DesertProject Constant Peg was a secret program to train US Air Force, Navy, and Marine...
Additional References
10.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/wingsmuseum/posts/inside-a-once-secret-us-air-force-adversary-training-program-american-pilots-fle/1347018600792608/
Source snippet
Inside a once-secret U.S. Air Force adversary training...HAVE DRILL programs the first MiGs flown in the United States were used to eval...
11.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/wingsmuseum/posts/why-us-pilots-secretly-trained-against-soviety-migsexcerpt-from-behind-the-wings/1438751864952614/
Source snippet
Why U.S. Pilots Secretly Trained Against Soviety MiGs...... MiG-17s and MiG-21s changed how U.S. pilots prepared for war. You'll hear ho...
12.
Source: planets.utsc.utoronto.ca
Link:https://planets.utsc.utoronto.ca/~pawel/pix/Davis-Red_Eagles_Americas_Secret_MiGs.pdf
Source snippet
utoronto.caAmerica's Secret MiGsselected by TAC to be the project pilot for operational exploitation of HAVE... compilation of many diff...
13.
Source: migflug.com
Title: topgun nine men a trailer and a revolution in air combat
Link:https://migflug.com/jetflights/topgun-nine-men-a-trailer-and-a-revolution-in-air-combat/
Source snippet
The missiles were unreliable. The Rules of Engagement were restrictive. But the core finding was damning:...Read more...
14.
Source: nsarchive.gwu.edu
Title: area 51 file secret aircraft soviet migs
Link:https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/intelligence/2013-10-29/area-51-file-secret-aircraft-soviet-migs
Source snippet
National Security ArchiveThe Area 51 File: Secret Aircraft and Soviet MiGs29 Oct 2013 — This briefing describes the specifics of the expl...
15.
Source: 10percenttrue.com
Title: HAV E IDEA: How the U.S
Link:https://www.10percenttrue.com/post/haveidea?srsltid=AfmBOopONZnMOYwGK_EHBimHuLRI94Wwc3C0dmFIKUUo4icgo4vxISOW
Source snippet
Air Force Secretly Took on the MiG23 Mar 2025 — MiG-23 being flown during an exploitation sortie over the Nellis ranges in the 1980s (USA...
16.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDgqpXh_cKY
Source snippet
CLASSIFIED Fighter Jet Program: How the US Acquired Soviet MiGs...
17.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvOCtIHyqhk
Source snippet
American MiG-21 and MiG-17 Flying Over Area 51 - The Story of Have Doughnut and Have Drill...
18.
Source: facebook.com
Link:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1317420939138586/posts/1838121723735169/
Source snippet
by AI from the post below.Read more...
19.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Declassified: America’s Mi G Squadron
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhPjl3rTza0
Source snippet
How Vietnam's Air War Led U.S. Pilots to Train Against Real MiGs | Rob "Z-man" Zettel Podcast Clip...
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