Editing Viktor Belenko (section)

==Early life and defection==
{{main|Defection of Viktor Belenko}}
[[File:Former Soviet Pilot Viktor Belenko’s Knee Pad Notebook with Flight Data - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency.jpg|thumb|Belenko's knee pad notebook with flight data]]

Belenko was born in [[Nalchik]], [[Russian SFSR]], in a [[Russians|Russian]] family (his passport states his ethnicity as Russian). Lieutenant Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment, [[11th Air Army]], [[Soviet Air Defence Forces]] based in [[Chuguyevka (air base)|Chuguyevka]], [[Primorsky Krai]]. On 6 September 1976, he successfully [[defection of Viktor Belenko|defected]] to the [[Western world#Cold War context|West]] by flying his [[MiG-25]] [[jet fighter]] to [[Hakodate Airport]] in [[Hokkaido]], Japan.<ref>{{cite book|title=Aviation Week & Space Technology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=93QgAAAAMAAJ|volume=105|year=1976|publisher=McGraw-Hill|page=120}}</ref>

This was the first time that Western military intelligence were able to get a close look at the aircraft and its specifications, and many secrets and surprises were revealed. His defection caused significant damage to the [[Soviet Air Force]].<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://tkachenko.in.ua/?page=koz_bel Предатель – Беленко Виктор Иванович.] tkachenko.in.ua</ref> Belenko was granted [[Political asylum|asylum]] by [[U.S. President]] [[Gerald Ford]], and a [[trust fund]] was set up for him, which granted him a very comfortable living in later years. The US government debriefed him for five months after his defection and employed him as a consultant for several years thereafter. Belenko had brought with him the pilot's manual for the MiG-25 since he expected to assist US pilots in evaluating and testing the aircraft.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Belenko was not the only pilot to have defected from the Soviet Union in this way or even the first to defect from a [[Soviet-bloc]] country. He might have been aware of the US government's policy of awarding large cash prizes to defecting pilots of communist countries.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pravdareport.com/history/07-11-2003/4029-pilot-0/ | title=A Story Not About a Hero | date=7 November 2003 }}</ref> In March<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=q0Fzu9dnluMC&pg=PA48 Mr. Mig: And the Real Story of the First Migs in America, Paul T. Entrekin] Retrieved 27 August 2017</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}} and May 1953,<ref>Skaarup, Harold [https://books.google.com/books?id=t7WfBAAAQBAJ&dq=Zdzis%C5%82aw+Jazwinski+mig-15&pg=PT71 Page 78, Canadian MiG Flights] Retrieved 27 August 2017</ref> two [[Polish Air Force]] pilots Lieutenant [[Franciszek Jarecki]] and Lieutenant Zdzisław Jaźwiński flew [[MiG-15]]s to Denmark. Later in 1953, [[North Korea]]n pilot [[No Kum-sok|No Kum Sok]] flew his MiG-15 to a US air base in South Korea;<ref name="Mig to freedom">{{cite book| author1=Rowe, Kenneth H. (No Kum-sok)| author2=Osterholm, J. Roger | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVG-v7lgRmoC| title=A MiG-15 to Freedom | isbn=0-7864-0210-5 | publisher=McFarland & Company Inc.| year=1996 | access-date=22 September 2013}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}} the MiG is in the permanent collection of the [[National Museum of the U.S. Air Force]], displayed in its original owner markings.<ref>[https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196115/mikoyan-gurevich-mig-15bis/ Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis] ''[[National Museum of the U.S. Air Force]]'' Retrieved 25 August 2017</ref> Later, Soviet Captain [[Aleksandr Zuyev (pilot)|Aleksandr Zuyev]] flew his [[MiG-29]] to [[Trabzon]], Turkey, on 20 May 1989.<ref name="may21">[http://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/05/21/MiG-returned-to-Soviet-Union/3760611726400/ MiG returned to Soviet Union], ''United Press International'', 21 May 1989.</ref> That MiG-29 was promptly returned to the Soviets.<ref>MiG returned to Soviet Union, United Press International, May 21, 1989.</ref>