The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has released impressive images of the recovery of an American World War II fighter, the P-63 “Kingcobra,” lifted from the bottom of a lake on the remote Kamchatka Peninsula.
The aircraft was transported from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Moscow aboard an An-124 “Ruslan” military transport aircraft, where it will undergo restoration work. Video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense shows the historic transport.
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According to the official statement, the recovery was carried out by specialists from the Kamchatka district hydrographic service of the Pacific Fleet, in partnership with the Russian Geographical Society. The operation faced major difficulties due to the region’s remote access, but the transport to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was successfully completed before being loaded onto the giant An-124 cargo plane.
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Historical origin of the aircraft
Research conducted at the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense revealed that the fighter belonged to a unit that had participated in the Kuril Islands landing operation at the end of the war. The identified pilot was Lieutenant Zinedin Mustafayev, who on October 16, 1945, was conducting flight training exercises when he suffered the accident that sent the aircraft to the bottom of the lake.
Destination: military museum
After restoration, the P-63 Kingcobra is expected to become part of the collection of a Russian military history and technology museum, making it one of the rarest pieces linked to Soviet-American cooperation during World War II, when the U.S. supplied hundreds of such aircraft to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program.
Source and images: Telegram @mod_russia | Flickr. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
