Cold War Conversations

Leigh joined the RAAF in 1978 to train as a pilot but was scrubbed after a few months and transitioned to training as an Air Electronics Officer (AEO) at the RAAF School of Air Navigation. He flew on the P-3C Orion and was employed in operations across the Indo-Pacific region on maritime patrol surveillance operations in the region - which included both usual surface surveillance of the region and operations alongside the US against Soviet submarines transiting the area. He also had the opportunity to track Soviet SSBNs in the NE Pacific operating with the US Navy. He details many incidents during his career including an “archaeological” mission, accidentally causing a diplomatic incident, as well as monitoring the splash-down and recovery of re-entry vehicles used to test the heat tiles for the Soviet Buran space shuttle. I’m delighted to welcome Leigh Collins to our Cold War Conversation. Episode extras including book recommendations, videos and photos here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode332/ The f