The United States Air Force displays a Russian-made Su-27 fighter in its museum

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, is the home to the world's largest aeronautical museum.

The flight of two Soviet-made MiGs with two F-22 fighters over a US air base
A US military museum will exhibit a Russian made fighter that 'disappeared' 5 years ago

That center is the National Museum of the United States Air Force (USAF). Today, this museum displays more than 350 aircraft and missiles, including some used by its enemies. Last year I told you about one of the most recent additions to its repertoire: a Sukhoi Su-27UB "Flanker-C" fighter plane, the "Blue 32", built in Russia during Soviet times as a response to an excellent American interceptor: the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle.

The Su-27 made its maiden flight on 20 May 1977 and entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1985. Today, Russia remains its primary operator, with over 450 such aircraft in its Air Force and Naval Aviation. According to Oryxspioenkop.com, two Russian Su-27s were destroyed in the invasion of Ukraine: one was shot down in March 2024, and the other was destroyed at its base in May. Ukraine was also operating several dozen Su-27s at the start of the invasion. Oryxspioenkop.com has confirmed the loss of 15 of them.

The Su-27UB on display at the USAF Museum was formerly in service with the Soviet Naval Aviation. It is a two-seat training model built in 1989. After the dissolution of the USSR, the aircraft passed into the hands of the Ukrainian Air Force, receiving the number 61 Blue. In 2008, after undergoing a demilitarization process, the aircraft was sold to an American company, Tactical Air Support Inc., based in Reno, Nevada, which provides training to military pilots with aircraft that play the role of aggressors. This company kept it in Ukrainian camouflage but with the number 32 Blue (with civil registration N132SU). It was later sold to Pride Aviation of Illinois.

This aircraft and its twin, the 31 Blue (registration N131SU, formerly the 66 Blue of the Ukrainian Air Force), were the subject of all kinds of speculation for years, some of which linked them to the Russian fighters operated at the Groom Lake test range, Nevada (popularly known as Area 51), by the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron (4477 TES), which I recently told you about here.

Yesterday, the National Air Force Museum noted that the Su-27UB's engines were installed that week, making the aircraft now complete (aside from the components removed during its demilitarization in Ukraine, of course). You can watch it in this video:

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Photos: National Museum of the US Air Force.