US Air Force Maj. Caleb Nimmo became the first American to fly the Soviet-export Mi-35 Hind on a combat mission. In what appears to be an eclectic career, the Major has also flown UH-1s, T-6 Texans, and the MV-22 Osprey.
According to the official Air Force article, the Air Force flies the Mi-35 as an “enemy” during Red Flag. Nimmo learned to fly the Hind from a civilian contractor in the US and received additional training with the Czech Republic.
An interesting article at the Air Force Times goes into more detail about a previously discussed “dream job” in the US Air Force: playing the bad guy. Air Force pilots fly American fighters but train to replicate the threat of potential adversaries. They then use those skills to “defend their homeland” during major exercises.
(Fighter units frequently use their own assets to simulate an air threat, a technique known as flying “red air.” However, aggressor units specifically train to precisely replicate foreign tactics for large force scenarios.)
The article indicates, perhaps a little too matter-of-factly, that the US Air Force once had multiple squadrons of Russian-built fighters:
In the days that the U.S. considered the Soviet Union its biggest threat, four squadrons of airmen flew Russian-made MiG-21s or Su-27 fighters to lend authenticity to their job. Read more