On November 28, 1973, Soviet pilot Yelseyev took off and soon spotted an American reconnaissance plane intruding into airspace. However, when he was ordered to shoot down the enemy plane, the two missiles hit the air one after another, and the cannon was stuck and unable to shoot, so in desperation, he had to crash into the enemy plane at full speed!
At that time, the Soviet air defense command, on the radar caught an enemy plane crossing the border, and immediately ordered a Su-15 to take off to intercept. However, the pilot piloted the fighter plane and searched the target area for a long time, but he did not find even a ghost, so he had to return home in sorrow. Subsequently, the command gave the task of searching and intercepting to the ace pilot Yeliseyev.
After receiving the order, Yeliseev flew a MiG-21 fighter to take off, and with many years of combat experience, he quickly found and locked the incoming enemy aircraft in the target airspace.
This is not an ordinary enemy aircraft, but a modified US-made "Ghost RF-4C" reconnaissance aircraft, with the addition of front-mounted radar and various advanced reconnaissance equipment, the cost is three times that of ordinary "Ghost" aircraft, with strong penetration ability and anti-interception capabilities, it is no wonder that the Su-15 did not catch his figure.
The identity of the enemy aircraft was confirmed, and Yeliseev reported to the command. At the same time, the American reconnaissance plane also caught the figure of the Soviet warplane, and then turned around and flew towards the Soviet border, in a vain attempt to escape.
After receiving the order to shoot down the intruder, Yeltseyev approached the American reconnaissance plane at full horsepower and, at the appropriate distance, decisively fired an AA-2 missile.
The AA-2 is the first generation of air-to-air missiles installed by the Soviet Air Force, which is powerful enough, but the anti-jamming ability is the hard wound of the missile, and it is deflected by the jamming bullets released by the US reconnaissance aircraft, and the result is that it passes by the "Ghost RF-4C" reconnaissance aircraft and fights a lonely one.
Seeing that the blow was missed, Yeliseev was not discouraged, quickly adjusted the fuselage and speed, and fired a second AA-2 at an appropriate distance, and the result was still the same as the first time, still playing a lonely game.
Both missiles on the MiG-21 were empty, and Yeliseyev looked anxious. However, there are no missiles and cannons, and the distance between the two aircraft is only a few hundred meters, and even the use of cannons can also make the enemy plane blossom in the air. However, the guns on the fighter plane made a big joke with him, and at the crucial moment, they actually dropped the chain, and only roared angrily and got stuck.
This sudden accident can make Yeliseev somewhat unexpected, and as a result, he fiddled with it for half a day, and the cannon was still quiet, that is, he did not start work.
Seeing that the American reconnaissance planes were getting closer and closer to the border and would soon lose the opportunity to shoot down the enemy planes, Yeltseyev was impatient. Presumably, the American pilots flying the "Ghost RF-4C" reconnaissance plane at this time were already secretly thankful that they were about to escape from the attack range of the Soviet warplanes.
At this critical juncture, Yeliseyev resolutely made up his mind that for the sake of the safety of the country and the honor of the soldiers, the enemy plane would not leave soviet airspace with such a big swing. So he drove at full power, using the MiG-21 as the last shell and crashing into the Ghost RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft.
With a loud noise, two American pilots parachuted themselves in an emergency and became prisoners of the Soviet army after landing on the ground, while the young life of Soviet ace pilot Yeliseev was forever frozen in this moment.
A few days later, Yeliseyev was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" and held a grand funeral in his hometown of Volgograd!
