Moving into line astern formation, the Su-15 pitched up into a climb and sliced off the CL-44’s starboard tailplane with its fin and fuselage
After being shut down in 1949, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was revived in 1953 to meet an urgent requirement for a high-speed interceptor capable of countering the growing threat posed by NATO bombers. The bureau quickly developed a series of Mach 2–class, missile-armed interceptors featuring delta wings. The single‑engine Su-9 (NATO reporting name: Fishpot-B) entered service in 1960, followed by the more heavily armed Su-11 (Fishpot-C) in 1964, and then the twin‑engine Su-15 in 1967. Although they were produced in relatively small quantities, these three fighters became a significant asset to the Soviet air defense network—especially the more advanced Su-15 (NATO reporting name: Flagon), which remained in service even after the Soviet Union collapsed, with the last aircraft retired in 1996.
During the Cold War, the southern frontiers of the Soviet Union were continually probed by hostile aircraft approaching from Turkey and Iran. As recounted by Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov in their book Sukhoi Interceptors: The Su-9, Su-11, and Su-15: Unsung Soviet Cold War Heroes, one such incident took place on July 17–18, 1981, along the Iranian border.
Soon after the Iran–Iraq War began, Iran arranged a deal to smuggle weapons—officially labeled as “pharmaceuticals”—from Israel, which at the time was cooperating with the United States in the notorious Iran–Contra affair. In late June, a Canadair CL-44D4-6 freighter, registration LV-JTN (c/n 34), was chartered from the Argentine airline Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense for this mission by Scots businessman Stuart Allen McCafferty, who served as a middleman between the Iranians and Swiss arms dealer Andreas Jenni.
On July 17, the freighter’s captain, Hector Cordero, chose to cut across Soviet airspace on a flight from Tel Aviv to Tehran in order to avoid the northern sector of the Iran–Iraq war zone. Cruising at about 8,000 m (26,250 ft), the aircraft briefly penetrated Soviet airspace over Armenia before exiting, and the local Soviet PVO command post did not respond—no fighters were scrambled. (Another version of events claims that a pair of Su-15s from the 166th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP), which had taken off to intercept, were ordered to return to base after the CL-44 made it to Iran.)
The next day, the crew used the same route for the return leg. On this occasion, two pairs of fighters were scrambled from Vaziani Air Base near Tbilisi, Georgia, to intercept the aircraft. However, hesitation and poor decision-making by the duty officers at the 34th Air Army’s command post meant the interceptors never managed to locate the target and had to turn back after reaching their ‘bingo fuel’ limit. (Although some accounts identify these fighters as Su-15s, Vaziani Air Base was home to the 982nd IAP, which never operated that model and at the time was flying MiG-23MLDs.)
Eventually, a single Su-15 from the 166th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (GvIAP), tail number “30” and flown by Capt. Valentin A. Kulyapin, was directed toward the intruding aircraft with instructions to force it to land at a Soviet airfield. Kulyapin attempted to give the standard “follow me” signals—something made difficult because he had to fly the Su-15 at its minimum controllable speed to stay in formation with the much slower freighter, risking a stall. The large turboprop, however, ignored his signals and began maneuvering dangerously, as its crew was clearly intent on escape. Seeing that the intruder would not comply, Kulyapin asked for permission to open fire, but his request was denied.
Because coordination between the pilot and the command center was so poor, the chase dragged on for more than ten minutes. When the CL-44 finally turned due south in a clear bid to escape, Kulyapin had to report this three separate times before he was at last authorized to destroy the target. At that point, however, a new problem emerged: his Su-15 was armed only with two R-98 air-to-air missiles and carried no cannon pods, while another Su-15 equipped with cannons was en route but would arrive too late to help.
With the border very close and a high risk that the intruder could cross it before he could drop back to a safe distance for a missile shot, Kulyapin chose to carry out a World War II–style ramming attack. Sliding into a line-astern position, he pulled the Su-15 up into a climb and sheared off the CL-44’s starboard tailplane with his aircraft’s fin and rear fuselage. The crippled freighter, now uncontrollable, plunged to the ground 2–3 km (1.24–1.86 miles) from the border, killing the three-man crew—captain Hector Cordero, first officer Jose Burgueno, and flight engineer Hermete Boasso—as well as Stuart McCafferty, who was also on board. Kulyapin’s Su-15 suffered severe damage in the collision, but he ejected and landed safely not far from the crash site. This time, the intruding aircraft came down on Soviet territory, and the wreckage provided undeniable proof of a border violation. For his actions, Capt. Valentin Kulyapin received the Order of the Red Banner.
Sukhoi Interceptors: The Su-9, Su-11, and Su-15: Unsung Soviet Cold War Heroes is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by US DoD and Christian Volpati via Wikipedia
