In April 1983 , the United States Navy conducted FleetEx ' 83-1 , the largest fleet exercise held to date in the North Pacific . The conglomeration of approximately forty ships with 23,000 crewmembers and 300 aircraft , was arguably the most powerful naval armada ever assembled . U.S. aircraft and ships attempted to provoke the Soviets into reacting , allowing U.S. Naval Intelligence to study Soviet radar characteristics , aircraft capabilities , and tactical maneuvers . On April 4 , at least six U.S. Navy aircraft flew over one of the Kurile Islands , Zeleny Island , the largest of a set of islets called the Habomai Islands . The Soviets were outraged and ordered a retaliatory overflight of the Aleutian Islands . The Soviet Union also issued a formal diplomatic note of protest , which accused the United States of repeated penetrations of Soviet airspace . In the following September , the civilian airliner Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was downed by Soviet fighter jets over nearby Moneron Island
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Korean Air Lines Flight 007
Cold War (1979–1985)