How the Soviets Stole a Missile - The Sidewinder Heist
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- čas přidán 26. 07. 2024
- How did Soviet spies steal a AIM-9 Sidewinder from a West-German Luftwaffe base during the Cold War? Find out all about it here! Check out Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74: www.bundeswehr.de/de/organisa...
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- Timecodes -
00:00 - Cold War Heist
00:14 - Architekt, Locksmith, Pilot, Spies
01:09 - Theft
01:50 - Getaway
02:55 - Parsley and Discovery
03:27 - Treason?
04:11 - AIM-9 Sidewinder
- Audio -
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound
Can I just say a big thank you to the German Luftwaffe and Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 for being such fantastic hosts and allowing me to film this at Neuburg AB where this happened. That was really awesome and not something that I expected, really enjoyed my time with the Bavarian Tigers!
No, you can not just say that.
Nice video though! I really enjoyed it.
Waitasec...there was rat poison on the ground and the guy was picking parsley? Bit of spousal murder going on there?
Meanwhile us stole a whole devils chariot grand theft chopper
For future reference, please add what the Soviets produced as a result. They previously had the clunky Alkali AAM. What was the Sidewinderski?
At first, I thought this was about the AIM-9B that got lodged in a Chinese MiG-17 and wanted to comment "They didn't steal it, the Chinese got a high speed delivery for free and were very lucky it didn't blow up."
Yeah, I was thinking "It wasn't a heist! We gave it to them!"
I thought the same thing 😂
Exactly my thoughts
That's the reason the Atoll existed. I think this is to see for upgrades
Gives whole new meaning to the military expression "Send it" 😉
They couldn’t charge them with theft of state secrets because it wasn’t officially named as a state secret.
That is so incredibly German…
Who left it there, where it could be stolen so easily
As much so as displaying the obligatory road flag to warn people from hurting themselves on the stolen missile!
@@lightcycler4806 With a hammer and sickle on the flag.
that's also called having a good lawyer 😂
But it's also interesting how sometimes the law is followed to the letter of the law, and sometimes it isn't, isn't it? 🤔One might think that they were actually allowed to get away with it, so as not to let NATO get a clear, decisive advantage, so that the US MIC could demand more money (which ultimately comes from US tax payers). Weird, huh? 🤷♂
I don't know which one is more daring, breaking into a military base to steal a missile... or attempting to drive long distance with said missile hanging out of your VW Beetle only wrapped up in a carpet.
It is one (or rather two) of those events where some how random pieces fall into place in perfect order to make what seems like an impossible task a reality. Also the missile in the carpet with the warning label, as silly as it sounds, why should they be stopped. They followed the law (on that matter). No wonder someone made a comedic movie about it afterwards.
@@MilitaryAviationHistory Seems like it went from Mission Impossible to Monty Python really quick once you revealed their get-away vehicle. And yeah the hiding it in plain sight seems to have been effective or you know the lack of anything big being noticed missing for a bit too.
@@MilitaryAviationHistory yeah, you put a flag on it... Police don't have counter intelligence training. It's just a carpet with a flag.
Also, what were the consequences of the soviet union getting access to this? Did anything need to be changed for the western nations?
@@A407RAC Probably not for the missile. The B model was quite limited, and there were already far more capable variants in production and even more advanced ones in development. But the INS unit was likely a much greater prize.
I suppose the sentence would have been greater if they had not taken the precaution of putting a red ribbon on the end that protruded from the car.
not to mention driving a Volkswagen with a broken rear window !! Ja !
@@bluedragontoybash2463I think those could be removed.
Not like they are the first guys transporting an over length load in a VW.
@@bluedragontoybash2463 Was driving a vehicle with a broken rear window a crime in Germany at the time?
And they never ride faster than legal!😂
@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pmin many countries if you're driving around with sharp shards of glass in the window you're breaking a safety law. That's common sense. If they were slightly intelligent they'd remove the whole window or remains of glass for obvious reasons (eg: getting pulled over) which is not a complex procedure, removing shards takes minutes with very common tools.
Also: I think he was joking re: Volkswagen.
The missile knows where it is because it’s in the back of a clapped out VW
It knows this because it knows it isn't on a military airbase
"Hey, is that a civilian anrufsammeltaxi?"
the missile being in a place it wasn't but it now is (Ivan's lab)
Many years ago, I had a contractor that was running some tests for the USAF and needed an AIM-9 seeker for those tests so we ordered one from the depot. When it arrived, it was attached to a complete war shot missile! The depot wasn't used to sending less than a full system so they thought we had made a mistake. The contractor's insurance would not cover them for explosives and the truck had already left before the error was found so it couldn't be returned. We were facing having a 12-foot box containing a classified missile sitting on the side of a road in Texas while we were in Dayton Ohio. We made several phone calls before we were able to get the EOD team at Carswell AFB to go out and get the missile, less the seeker, and bring it back to an ammo bunker at Carswell. The next time we did this we actually had a guy fly to the Atlanta airport with the seeker in his carry-on case where he met the contractor who signed for it and took it his facility. You have no idea how much classified material passes through airports every day in someone's briefcase.
wardogs type situation
Wait so your saying the military sends classified parts through civilian airports and airplanes?
@@Radbot776 yes, and through other civilian logistics contractors. F.e. wooden crates with a paper "seal" labeled as "machine parts"
@@campandcook3118 super genius
@@Radbot776 Hidden in plane sight
Plucking parsley…..rat poison in the ground…the plot thickens
Somebody had to sleep on the couch one too many times.
😂
Sounds like some plot in Cozy Murder Mystery in sleepy English village
I doubt they put rat poison even in the grass on the outskirts of the base 😅
Besides, rat poison is almost always never lethal for human because they mix substances that cause vomiting along with the actual poison as a safety measure. Rats and mices lack a vomiting reflex and so absorb the full dose while humans throw it out before it can do any significant damage.
@@qdaniele97 they were worried about the dogs getting the poison, not the soldiers
I will never look at a roll of carpet hanging out the window of a small car the same way ever again. Congrats on becoming part of my conspiracy lexicon.
"You wouldn't download a car..."
*downloads an AIM-9B instead*
Hide a Patriot missile in a rolled up yoga mat
Fun fact, the Soviets had already reverse engineered this missile since 1960 as one got stuck in a PLAAF MiG-17 and didn't detonate in 1958, the Soviets persuaded the Chinese to give them the missile for further analysis. They copied it too well, even the serial number and some parts are interchangeable with the real AIM9
Interesting. Is there a source where you can read this and find out more about it?
@@Phantom-rb8yv I heard some some guy on a forum say the book "sidewinder" talks about it maybe he meant "Sidewinder: Creative Missile Development at China Lake"?
The Soviets and Chinese were quite good at copying other’s homework. When the Soviets got their hands on American B-29s, they copied it down to the most minute detail and made the Tu-4. Everything about it was copied: from its bomb payload to its window layout and flight performance. Even some of the rivets missing on the original and a camera used for reconnaissance and espionage were ported over on the copy. The main things that couldn’t be copied were the thickness of the metal skin, which was in imperial units rather than metric, and the guns.
@@Phantom-rb8yv just google how the soviets got the aim 9 from the Chinese, or search k 13 missile and read its history
@@therealspeedwagon1451 every country copies including the usa
So the Soviets stole a missile, while the U.S. received a MIG-25 free of charge from a defector.
Well, if you go that way, USSR received a flyable F-5E as well as Aim-7
@@user-qn3xu5ee3t America also got VTOL and a research paper the soviets foolishly posted publicly that lead to all modern stealth jets we have now. Back then really was wild.
@@NineSeptims VTOL isn't really related to stealth fighters now is it yes its a feture but is not neccesary because a stealth fighter can just as easily take off without VTOL and Stealth Tech was being researched either way by this time.
@@NineSeptims didn’t that narrative get disproved? Russians were so embarrassed about always trying to steal American tech, that they made up that story, to save dignity👀at least they have some pride left tho, unlike the sloppy Chines. Yikes💀
And the chinese receive an EP-3 spy plane 😅
What I find bemusing is that they brought the wrong kind of VW to do the job, they needed a Combie Van not a Beetle!
they could have at least used a roof rack. but they did bring the carpet so there was some forethought.
@@cocodog85 Yea, at first I thought they had it by chance in the beetle when Chris mentioned it, then I realised that they did bring it to hide the missile in the beetle in case they got pulled up - "hey we're just carrying some carpet home officer"!!!
If you are referring to a Combi Van you mean the VW Type 2 known in Cars as Filmore. There is another option buy the loaf van from the GDR and then steal the AIM-9B
@@EpicThe112 Oh I have never head of them, I thought all the DDR had was Trabants! 🚓🛵
@irongron if you want to know who made them in the German Democratic Republic it's this VEB Barkas.
The way Chris wrote his disclaimer makes me suspect he got his very own JDAM now.
"for research".
This was a remarkably German heist from start to finish. Apparently I can still be surprised by how German Germany was at the time.
The pilot who stole the missile wrote a book about it.
I’m searching for it for almost a year 😂
Thank you for the video!
This is so funny - on one side you have James Bond stories with perfectly arranged missions, and on the other side you have dudes, fitting Sidewinder into VW Beetle and driving with it 500 km while it sticks out of the window😀
At least the Soviets gave Lufthansa a 5 star review!
So in short, 3 guys cut a hole in the fence, grabbed the missle threw it in the car, and them drove it a long distance and somehow remained undetected throughout the entire process until 2 days later the hole was discovered and they were tracked down a year later to face trial.
Worse, they only found them cause one of the guys got drunk and boasted about the theft in a bar.
Is this in Florida, or Germany?
A schlosser isnt really a locksmith. Its rather a far broader metal working profession
A welder?
@@robrob9050 could be, but it’s really not that specific. Unlike a smith a Schlosser is processing an intermediate product. Could be welding, could be milling or a bunch of other processes.
@@SchwertKruemel Thanks for clarification
a new meaning for the term ... a magic carpet ride.
Great job, Chris. The music and animated graphics are truly top-notch.
Great turnaround from the usual topics, großes Lob
Now that you've been to the museum at Neuburg AB. Can we hope of a dedicated Inside The Cockpit of the F-4F Phantom (38+10) that they have there. I really loved the episode of the FGR.2 and I am still hoping for an episode of the F-4F or perhaps an EE Lightning. That would be awesome. Thanks for your videos!!!
Yup, was great to film that Phantom
Fantastic video and great medium format too!
Cool to see your channel taking it to the next level! Awesome video.
Aboard the USS Ranger CV-61 many years ago the Marines would be posted to guard the ordnance areas aboard ship. One day I caught one NOT doing his job and being distracted by people walking by. To teach him a VALUABLE lesson I swiped the sign on the stanchion right in front of him that stated "Warning, no unauthorized personal beyond this line, DEADLY FORCE is authorized". I just took the sign and kept walking. Smiling at the thought of his Gunny Sergeant tearing him a new one for losing the sign while standing right there. I bet he NEVER stood guard in a sloppy distracted manner again. 🙂
I'm no big fan of the Soviets, but they did get up to a lot of fun stuff right under Nato's noses, didn't they?
Beautifully made video! I recall having heard about that heist but it is nice to see the real objects that stood at the center of it.
Also, just discovered your channel. Exactly my thing! Thank you so much!
Enjoyed the way you presented this video Chris. Was great to see the old INS system too, im sure it was very good piece of technology for it's time.
Absolutely unbelievable..., it raises so many questions..., how come was the base so poorly guarded? Having been able to sneak into a military base, how did they were even catched one year later and trialed? And the outcome of the trial..., ridiculous...
Jordi
Real life: Get in, get out and drive away.
Hollywood: flashy Ocean 11 reboot but with Sidewinders.
Netflix: Ocean 11 but German with a lot of sombre and twisting backstories. And Sidewinders.
The Netflix wouldn't be German tho aside for citizenship.
Wasnt there a Sidewinder that hit a Mig, but didn't explode? Then removed on landing?
Yeah, when I saw the title, that's what I thought this would be about.
Is that the official excuse?
@@TheArklyte he literally says this wasn't the first Sidewinder the Soviets got, but the first fully functioning one
That was a different incident.
That one was Taiwanese fired and lodged into a Chinese MiG, who then passed it on to Moscow
I’m liking this format Chris!
Thanks!
Love this channel
The guard (G): -- Hey! Who are you?!
The thief (T): -- A moth!
G: -- And where are you taking this carpet?!
T: -- That's my lunch! I will eat it at home!
In the late 1970s, I read in the aviation press about a Strela missile that, during one of the wars in the Middle East, got stuck in the nozzle of an Israeli jet without exploding. The pilot, who apparently had the balls of bronze, managed to land with this gift and became a hero, and the Americans salivated when receiving the rocket. The funniest part of this story: I read this article during my reserve officer training in the Polish army ("communist" times) after college, sitting under a display case in which there was a Strela disassembled into parts, with the inscription "Top Secret".
Amazing opportunity to film this at the Place where it happened. Nice Video
I really like this style of video. If possible make more of them.
Thanks Chris - wow ! Was not all aware of this !
How the soviets stole a missle: They walked up to the hangar and just took it.
Yo, those titles cards & fade was slick. Very nice. Your production has come a long way.
Thanks☺️
Security at the air base was so bad,according to a joke,one can even smuggle the phantom jet out of the air base.
It’s not stolen when you fired it at the enemy but it didn’t explode and the enemy just picks it up and brought it back home
The missile in question was accidentally discarded in the rubbish bin by a cleaner. And some guys at the garbage collection center discovered it and sold it on the black market before the Soviets purchased it.
Hi bug
great vid
Cool video. Fortune favours the brazen in this case!
More of this I really like this video.
I love how over-edited this is.
\o/
I remember this , its like an angry but loving wife gives you tea when you ask her .
Human ingenuity knows no bounds when backed by determination.
thanks for the overview. too bad we didn't get a video that took effort to make
Priceless
Cool story. More content like this please...
Incredible that the thieves got such short prison sentences for such an extraordinary act of treason. One can only imagine the grisly end that would befall someone caught in the Soviet Union for a similar act.
If they did it in the US you'd get 20-life at the federal supermax. That's what happened to the guy that sold cruise missile tech to the Chinese. 32 yr sentence means he'll get out in his 80s if he's lucky.
@@colbunkmust To be fair cruise missile tech is a bit more serious, especially when the Russians had already developed a 1:1 copy of the Aim 9B at the time.
And if I remember correctly, the parts sent by air mail did not arrive at their Soviet Union destination right away. Due to a postal error, they arrived somewhere in Germany first. When the German mail service discovered the error, they promptly corrected the error and re-sent it to the USSR, as per their duty! Ut arrived in Moscow a few days later, and the rest is history :)
is that a picture of the aim-9b/r3s from the war thunder wiki in the thumbnail?
love cold war history. madness.
John Fisherman
I love history so much I wish there was some kind of class or container of information on it.
Would you ever do a video on the AD/A-1 Skyraider?
Reminds me of an incident in the UK where an A2A missile of some sort was sent through the mail system, while live. Yes.
And it made it.
Ussr after stealing a missile: OUR MISSILE NOW
Damn the new gta online dlc is looking 🔥🔥🔥🔥
That heist sounded like something Olsen gang did but in Danmark .
Is anyone aware of a video about first Soviet AT missiles or missiles that armed Mig -17pf, Mig-19 pm? I found plenty of pictures but nothing about how they came about.
Kind of crazy that they timed it to coincide with the rat poison on the ground and that they had already broken into the base once before
i read about that. what a story. to note, western military missions in the gdr were not less of an adventure.
Next on its always Sunny - The Gang Steals a Missle
Would be interesting to know how they got caught
Mark stark
Was this after the one they acquired via the Chinese when it failed to explode and got wedged in the target plane?
Well we salvaged “part” of one of their nuclear submarines that they weren’t even able to find sooo…scoreboard? Missile vs Sub, you tell me
How did they catch the guys? Probably just sat back and looked out for the first guy to pull a Ferrari into the staff parking, like Richard Pryor in Superman III.
If Hollywood made this into a film it’d be a comedy
What was the line from the film "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"
Or was it "Ice Station Zebra" that talked about the Russian German scientists and the American German scientists. We could extrapolate that to your German spies and our German spies.
Thumbnail of the day award
Always loved the style of soviet propaganda
Also great vid! Thanks
I love the story about when the American got their hands on a MiG-25. They thought it was some Soviet super weapon but it was just an outdated interceptor from when nuclear weapons required bomber aircraft.
Whatever the Americans were thinking is one thing, whatever that turned out to be is another!!
Mig25 is made to intercept SR71, and nuclear bombing as a second task! Thus its electronics! They were not made with miscochips, they were made of "lambs" which are not affected by nuclear radiation!
i knew that the soviets got an unexploded sidewinder from the back of a mig, but i never knew that someone broke into a base and stole one in the dead of night. Thats literally a bond movie opening scene in real life
So, they pretty much got off scot free because it was so new it wasn't classified? Wow
Why is the Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 74 not named after Mölders anymore?
Wow!
This happened in October of 1967, for anyone else wondering.
West Germany security control was really bad.
Ruby
I just wish the Danish/Swedish mail service was this good today. What happens with a lack of funding, but at least there won't be any AIM-120s mailed to Moscow this way!
Ofcourse you have to berücksichtigen the straßenverkehrsordnung and put the red flag on an object extending more than 1 meter out
Some time make a video on how US stole Mig fighter,stole Russian helicopter.
Jack
"Their motivation werent all clear" Maybe it was ideological motivation?
And then they sent the AIM9B back with many laughing emojis
Kinda surprised they didn't just knock on the door, ask and be told yeah help yourself 😂
4:00 is that correct?
Accordingly, there should be a list of what is classified as a state secret... This contradicts the logic of state secrets and many things in the legal system do not work like that
The regular penalties for disclosing a state secret according to the Criminal Code are not very high. I would rather assume that the problem was not that it was not a state secret, but that other "Tatbestände" were not applicable or that the punishment was generally very low
We had Mini Coopers for Italian Job and for this German Job, we have VW Beetle! Herbie wont be pleased!
in fact, the Soviets also stole the first artificial satellite and the first space rocket from the United States. This is a well-known fact, but for some reason no one talks about it.
I only read the headline.
Did they smuggle it out after it failed to detonate in their fuselage?
the entire video is funnier than the headline
Russia stole an American missile, America stole a Russian submarine off the ocean floor. Sounds like a fair trade
True but the Soviets stole the Atom Bomb blueprints in 1945
The Germans at the time had many people with high authority that were _very_ friendly with the Kremlin. There may be more to this than meets the eye but no one will ever know.
Least insane cold war moment:
Not stolen, finessed.
Back in them days the sidewinder seeker wasnt that cleaver, so atleast the soviets didnt get away with a later version lol
They should make a movie ..
Why is the one sidewinder shorter than the other?
They are both the same missile but the “shorter” one is placed a little further back than the “bigger” one.
@@MuhammadAli-255 The fins are in the same place and when comparing the two the "longer" one has a longer distance from the lens too the first seam line. As well as having a different lense colour. I think it's a aim-9b fgw.2
You shouldn't wash them any hotter than 30 degrees, otherwise they shrink, as you've seen.
We gave them one in September1958 during the Taiwan Crisis, stuck in the side of a PLAAF Mig-17F. They didn't need to steal another one.
IIRC, the stolen one is the Aim-9D. The Soviets found out that their R-3S (which is the lodge Aim 9B) was becoming obsolete.
@@truongchau56 Thank you for that follow up, I had not heard that addition before.
So INS Inertial Navigation System?
Yes
Lots of odd things went east in a Diplomatic bag ….and still does, as things move west.