4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron

4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron
Members of the 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron in front of a MiG-21F-13 Fishbed C/E, "85 Red", USAF serial 014. This airframe is now displayed at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin AFB, Florida.
Active	1 May 1980–15 July 1990
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Flight/Squadron
Role	Foreign Technology Evaluation
Garrison/HQ	Air Force Flight Test Center (Detachment 3), Nevada Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada
Nickname(s)	Red Eagles
Disbanded	Last sorties on 4 March 1988.
Commanders
Notable commanders	Gaillard Peck, George Gennin
Insignia
Emblem of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron. Regular Patch
Emblem of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (Subdued or camouflaged)
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17, MiG-21 and MiG-23.
Trainer	Northrop T-38 Talon
Transport	Cessna 404, Mitsubishi MU-2

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.

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.