Russian Pearl Harbor
The article deals with a unique flight of two Tu-16R reconnaissance aircraft to the region of Kuril Islands in order to search and pin down the location of the United States Navy carrier striking group in 1982 Sea-based aviation tactical bombing of this country’s eastern territories could be a front for a real attack. At the same time any air intrusion into the USSR territory was a trigger to a military conflict which could spiral into a nuclear war. Aviation lieutenant colonel V.P. Mikhaylov, who is Aerospace sphere journal permanent author, describes the dramatic events of Fleetex-82 American military manoeuvres in which he participated himself as he served an electronic reconnaissance operator at that time.