"Nickel
in the Grass," is the briefing given to American pilots about to face the
MiG-21 in Southeast Aisa, and now it can be told to all.
"Nickel
in the Grass," is the briefing given to American pilots about to face the
MiG-21 in Southeast Aisa, and now it can be told to all.
The United States Air Force ended the Korean Conflict with the top combat pilots in the world. Fifteen years later, a combination of "anti-hotdog" regulations and tactical doctrines eroded combat skills to dangerously low levels. To counter this problem, the Air Force and Navy introduced an instructional air combat briefing called "Nickel in the Grass." "Nickel in the Grass" used lessons learned from Project HAVE DOUGHNUT, the technical exploitation of the MiG-21, to help train fighter pilots in the techniques necessary to defeat the MiG-21 threat in the skies over North Vietnam.
The "Nickel in the Grass" video program contains recently declassified material that reveals a detailed performance evaluation of the MiG-21, both its strengths and weaknesses. The combat capability of the MiG-21 is evaluated against the top U.S. fighters of its day and U.S. pilots are taught when and when not to engage the MiG-21. The capability of the MiG-21 described in this program is one of the reasons it was the most produced jet fighter in history.
To order "Nickel in the Grass"