This close air-to-air photograph shows the distinctive red star tail marking of a Soviet long-range aircraft, almost certainly captured by a U.S. Navy fighter pilot escorting or intercepting the aircraft near a carrier task group during the Vietnam War era. Such intercepts of Soviet reconnaissance and bomber aircraft, like the Tu-16 'Badger,' were routine Cold War encounters, and the resulting photographs served as valuable intelligence records of Soviet aircraft configurations and markings. Project: 218135