In August 1958, the communist forces of PRC tried to land on Dongding Island.
When that failed, they began shelling the islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu Islands.
An F-15 Eagle aircraft armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.
However, the AIM-9B missiles made up for all the Sabress shortcomings.
On that day, as many as six out of twelve MiGs were downed by the Sidewinders.
The surviving Chinese pilots returned to the base, baffled at the unexpected outcome of the dogfight.
Just then they noticed that one of the jets had a Sidewinder missile still embedded in its fuselage.
The missile had failed to detonate.
The Chinese carefully dismantled it and attempted to reverse-engineer its technology.
When the Soviets learned about the Sidewinder, they persuaded the Chinese to send them the captured missile.
AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on the wing pylon of an F/A-18A Hornet aircraft.
This limitation made it suitable for engaging slow-moving targets like bombers but rendered it ineffective for fighter-on-fighter air combat.
The captured Sidewinder proved to be a godsend.
The missile had several valuable features, notably its modular construction, which facilitated ease of production and operation.
The simplicity of the AIM-9 stood in stark contrast to the complexity of contemporary Soviet missiles.
The Sidewinder was quickly reverse-engineered as theK-13and entered limited service only two years later, in 1960.
The Soviet K-13, a copy of the U.S. Sidewinder, at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
They rolled the missile down the runway in a wheelbarrow to Rammingers Mercedes sedan parked outside the base.
To avoid attracting attention, they covered the missile with a blanket.
Upon reaching his home in Krefeld, Ramminger dismantled the missile and packed it into a crate.
The shipment cost him $483.88.
The daring raid could have ended badly when the wooden box was mistakenly sent to the wrong destination.
For his efforts, Ramminger was paid $81,000.
The three were sentenced to between three and four years in prison.
It was not the first time the Soviets had stolen technology from the United States.
Although the Tu-144 had significant differences and issues, the similarities suggested that espionage played a role.
Throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union made extensive efforts to obtain Western semiconductor technology.
The legacy of Cold War espionage continues to influence modern international relations and technological development.
