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An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
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United States Air Force
Air service branch of the U.S. military
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 August 1907, as a part of the United…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
North American Sabreliner
American business jet
The North American Sabreliner, later sold as the Rockwell Sabreliner, is an American mid-sized business jet developed by North American Aviation. It was offered to the United States Air Force (USAF) in response to its Utility Trainer Experimental (UTX) program. It was named…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
1964 T-39 shootdown incident
Cold War incident involving an American T-39 being shot down by a Soviet MiG-19
On 28 January 1964, an unarmed T-39 Sabreliner aircraft of the United States Air Force (USAF) was shot down while on a training mission over Erfurt, East Germany, by a MiG-19 jet fighter of the Soviet Air Force. The occupants of the aircraft were Lieutenant Colonel Gerald K.…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Erfurt
Capital of Thuringia, Germany
Erfurt (German pronunciation: [ˈɛʁfʊʁt] ) is the capital and largest city of the Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the River Gera, in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest,…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
East Germany
Country in Central Europe (1949–1990)
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state and described…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Soviet Air Forces
Aerial warfare branch of the Soviet Union's armed forces
The Soviet Air Forces were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces were formed from components of the Imperial Russian Air Service in 1917, and faced their greatest test during World War II. The groups were also…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19
Air superiority fighter aircraft family
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. "Century Series" fighter was the North American F-100 Super Sabre,…Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)