Fighterjets Inc. will be debuting a new four-ship show at the Barksdale AFB Defenders of Liberty Airshow 2025, according to team owner Randy Ball.
The team already performs dozens of solo displays at airshows across the USA. They began flying occasional three-ship displays in 2017, and they are now expanding to a quartet.
Although it won’t be the first time that four MiG-17s have flown together at a North American airshow (four performed formation flypasts at EAA AirVenture 2024, pictured below), it will be the first four-ship MiG performance in the country by a fully-fledged formation team.
Currently, the team does not perform formation aerobatics; their show consists of formation flybys, following which one aircraft peels off for an aerobatic solo routine. The jets then rejoin for a break to land. It can probably be assumed that the planned four-ship display will follow a similar format.
The Barksdale AFB Defenders of Liberty Airshow will take place in Shreveport, LA, on the 29th-30th March. It is the only date announced so far for the full four-ship routine, although three-ship shows will be performed at other events in 2025, including the Dayton Airshow.
Seperately, Randy Ball also indicated his intention to return to EAA AirVenture in 2025, following a one year hiatus. Both Ball and the EAA gave differing explanations for the hiatus; in June, Ball took to social media to claim he had been invited to the show the previous July, and later “uninvited” [sic]. EAA responded with a statement claiming that they never invite airshow performers until December of the previous year, at which point Ball had already been informed that he had not been selected as a formal airshow performer for the 2024 edition. They said this was part of a regular rotation of display acts and an attempt to “change the show up,” however he was welcome to attend as a fly-in visitor. Ball usually participated in AirVenture on an annual basis.