While West was thus suffering one mismatch after the other, the Communists continuously suffered defection of their pilots. In one of the least well known similar incidents, in 1963, a disappointed Soviet pilot flew his Su-9 interceptor to Abadan, in Iran. Only very scetchy details about this incident are known even today, but the plane and the pilot were picked up by officers of the – meanwhile – Foreign Technology Division (FTD), as the ATIC - now under US Air Force Systems Command, but directly controlled by Pentagon - was renamed in 1961. After being disassembled within 24 hours the Su-9 was transported to the USA, while the pilot followed shortly after. Almost certainly this was one of main factors which lead to a relatively early retirement of the Su-9 interceptor from active service.