The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25;
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...
: Foxbat) is a
supersonic
Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
interceptor
Interceptor may refer to:
Vehicles
* Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft
* Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car
* ...
and
reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...
that is among the
fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's
Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is an aircraft built primarily using
stainless steel
Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
. It was to be the last plane designed by
Mikhail Gurevich, before his retirement.
The first prototype flew in 1964 and the aircraft entered service in 1970. It has an operational top speed of
Mach 2.83. Although its thrust was sufficient to reach Mach 3.2+, its speed was limited to prevent engines from overheating at higher air speeds and possibly damaging them beyond repair.
["Intelligence: Big-Mouth Belenko"](_blank)
''Time'', 11 October 1976. Retrieved: 12 June 2021.[Gunston and Spick pp. 132–133.] The MiG-25 features a powerful
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
and four
air-to-air missile
The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back)
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...
s and was theoretically capable of a ceiling of . When first seen in reconnaissance photography, the large wings suggested an enormous and highly maneuverable fighter, at a time when U.S.
design theories were also evolving towards higher maneuverability due to combat performance in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. The appearance of the MiG-25 sparked serious concern in the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
and prompted dramatic increases in performance for the
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
, then under development in the late 1960s. The capabilities of the MiG-25 were better understood by the West in 1976 when Soviet pilot
Viktor Belenko defected in a MiG-25 to the United States via
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. It turned out that the aircraft's weight necessitated its large wings.
Production of the MiG-25 series ended in 1984 after completion of 1,186 aircraft. A symbol of the Cold War, the MiG-25 flew with Soviet allies and former Soviet republics, remaining in limited service in several export customers. It is one of the highest-flying military aircraft, one of the fastest
serially produced interceptor aircraft, and the second-fastest serially produced aircraft after the
SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, which was built in very small series compared to the MiG-25.
["Global Aircraft – Top 50 Fastest Aircraft."](_blank)
''The Global Aircraft Organization,'' 24 April 2007. Retrieved: 30 June 2011. , the MiG-25 remains the fastest manned serially produced aircraft in operational use and the fastest plane that was offered for supersonic flights and edge-of-space flights to civilian customers.
Design and development
Background
During the Cold War,
Soviet Air Defence Forces
The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...
, PVO (not to be confused with
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
, VVS) was given the task of strategic air defence of the USSR. This meant not only dealing with accidental border violations, but more importantly defending the vast airspace of the USSR against US
reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...
and
strategic bomber
A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, ...
s carrying free-fall nuclear bombs. The performance of these types of aircraft was steadily improved. In the late 1950s, the very high altitude overflights of Soviet territory by the
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...
revealed the need for a higher altitude interceptor aircraft than available at that time.
The subsonic
Boeing B-47 Stratojet
The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...
and
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
strategic bombers were followed by the Mach 2
Convair B-58 Hustler
The Convair B-58 Hustler, designed and produced by American aircraft manufacturer Convair, was the first operational bomber capable of Mach 2 flight.
The B-58 was developed during the 1950s for the United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air ...
, with the Mach 3
North American B-70 Valkyrie on the drawing board at that time. A major upgrade in the PVO defence system was required, and, at the start of 1958, a requirement was issued for manned interceptors capable of reaching and heights of up to . Mikoyan and Sukhoi responded.
![Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152 and Ye-152M top-view silhouette comparison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Mikoyan-Gurevich_Ye-152_and_Ye-152M_top-view_silhouette_comparison.jpg)
The Mikoyan-Gurevich
OKB
OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...
had been working on a series of interceptors during the second half of the 1950s: the I-1, I-3U, I-7U, I-75, Ye-150, Ye-150A,
Ye-152
The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-150 family was a series of prototype interceptor aircraft designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union from 1955.
Design and development
To fulfil the needs of the '' Protivo-Vozdushnay ...
, Ye-152A, Ye-152P, and Ye-152M. The Ye-150 was noteworthy because it was built specifically to test the
Tumansky R-15
The Tumansky R-15 is an axial flow, single shaft turbojet with an afterburner. Its best known use is on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25.
Design and development
The R-15-300 was designed at the OKB-300 design bureau led by Sergei Tumansky in the lat ...
engine, two of which would later be used for the MiG-25. This led to Ye-152, alternatively known as Ye-166, which set several world records. The Ye-152M (converted from one of the two Ye-152 aircraft) was intended to be the definite heavy interceptor design. But before it was finished, the PVO had selected the
Tupolev Tu-128. As the work on the MiG-25 was well under way, the single-engine Ye-152M was abandoned.
Development
Work on the new Soviet interceptor that became the MiG-25 started in mid-1959,
a year before Soviet intelligence learned of the American Mach 3
A-12 reconnaissance aircraft.
[Spick 2000] It is not clear if the design was influenced by the American
A-5 Vigilante
The North American A-5 Vigilante was an American carrier-based supersonic bomber designed and built by North American Aviation (NAA) for the United States Navy. Prior to 1962 unification of Navy and Air Force designations, it was designated t ...
.
The design bureau studied several possible layouts for the new aircraft. One had the engines located side by side, as on the
MiG-19
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...
. The second had a stepped arrangement with one engine amidships, with exhaust under the fuselage, and another in the aft fuselage. The third project had an engine arrangement similar to that of the
English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It was capable of a top speed of above Mach 2. The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufa ...
, with two engines stacked vertically. Options two and three were both rejected because the size of the engines meant that either of them would result in a very tall aircraft, which would complicate maintenance.
The idea of placing the engines in underwing nacelles was also rejected because of the dangers of any thrust asymmetry during flight. Having decided on engine configuration, there was thought of giving the machine
variable-sweep wing
A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be swept back and then returned to its original straight position during flight. It allows the aircraft's shape to be modified in fli ...
s and a second crew member, a navigator. Variable geometry would improve maneuverability at subsonic speed, but at the cost of decreased fuel tank capacity. Because the reconnaissance aircraft would operate at high speed and high altitude, the idea was soon dropped. Another interesting but impractical idea was to improve the field performance using two RD36-35 lift-jets. Vertical takeoff and landing would allow for use of damaged runways during wartime and was studied on both sides of the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
. The perennial problem with engines dedicated to vertical lift is they become mere dead weight in horizontal flight and also occupy space in the airframe needed for fuel. The MiG interceptor would need all the fuel it could get, so the idea was abandoned.
![Ye-155](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Ye-155.png)
The first prototype was a reconnaissance variant, designated Ye-155-R1, that made its first flight on 6 March 1964.
[Belyakov and Marmain 1994, p. 398.] It had some characteristics that were unique to that prototype, and some of these were visually very evident: the wings had fixed wingtip tanks with a capacity, to which small winglets were attached for stability purposes, but when it was found that fuel sloshing around in the tanks caused vibrations, they were eliminated. The aircraft also had attachments for movable foreplanes,
canards, to help with pitch control at high speed (provisions for canards had previously been installed, but not used, on the
Ye-152P).
[Lake 1998, p. 108.][Belyakov and Marmain 1994, pp. 272–274.]
The first flight of the interceptor prototype, Ye-155-P1, took place on 9 September 1964.
[Belyakov and Marmain 1994, p. 391.] Development of the MiG-25, which represented a major step forward in Soviet
aerodynamics
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...
,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
and
metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
, took several more years to complete.
[Belyakov and Marmain 1994, pp. 387–388.]
On 9 July 1967, the new aircraft was first shown to the public at the
Domodedovo air show, with four prototypes (three fighters and a reconnaissance aircraft) making a flypast.
[Lake 1998, p. 109.]
Aviation records
The Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau soon realized that the performance of the new aircraft gave it great potential to set new flight records. In addition to their normal duties, the prototypes Ye-155-P1, Ye-155-R1, Ye-155-R3 were made lighter by removing some unneeded equipment and were used for these attempts. Under
Federation Aeronautique Internationale
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
(FAI) classification, the Ye-155 type belonged to class C1 (III), which specifies jet-powered land planes with unlimited maximum take-off weight. Records set included:
* The first claim was for world speed records with no payload and payloads of . MiG OKB Chief Test Pilot
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Fedotov
Alexander Vasilyevich Fedotov (23 June 1932, Stalingrad, USSR – 4 April 1984, USSR) was a Soviet test pilot who was a Hero of the Soviet Union, Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR, Lenin Prize holder and Major-General of Aviation.
Biography
He w ...
reached an average speed of over a circuit on 16 March 1965.
* For pure speed, with no payload, test pilot Mikhail M. Komarov averaged over a closed circuit on 5 October 1967.
On the same day, Fedotov reached an altitude of with a payload.
The MiG eventually became the first aircraft to go higher than .
* Time to height records were recorded on 4 June 1973 when Boris A. Orlov climbed to in 2 min 49.8 s. The same day, Pyotr M. Ostapenko reached in 3 min 12.6 s and in 4 min 3.86 s.
* On 25 July 1973, Fedotov reached with payload and with no load (an absolute world record).
[Belyakov and Marmain 1994, p. 392.] In the thin air, the engines flamed out, and the aircraft coasted in a ballistic trajectory by inertia alone. At the apex the speed had dropped to .
* On 31 August 1977, Ye-266M again flown by Fedotov, set the recognized absolute altitude record for a jet aircraft under its own power.
[Belyakov and Marmain 1994, pp. 406–407.] He reached at Podmoskovnoye, USSR in
zoom climb
A zoom climb is a climb where the rate of climb is greater than the maximum climb rate using only the thrust of the aircraft's engines. The additional climb rate is attained by reduction of horizontal speed. Before a zoom climb, the aircraft ac ...
(the absolute altitude record is different from the record for sustained altitude in horizontal flight). The aircraft was actually a MiG-25RB re-engined with the powerful R15BF2-300. It had earlier been part of the program to improve the aircraft's top speed that resulted in the MiG-25M prototype.
In all, 29 records were claimed, of which seven were all-time world records for time to height, altitudes of and higher, and speed. Several records still stand.
Technical description
Because of the
thermal stresses incurred in flight above Mach 2, the Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB had difficulties choosing what materials to use for the aircraft. They had to use E-2 heat-resistant
Plexiglas
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
for the canopy and high-strength stainless steel for the wings and fuselage. Using titanium rather than steel would have been ideal, but it was expensive and difficult to work with. The problem of cracks in welded titanium structures with thin walls could not be solved, so the heavier
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
steel was used instead. It cost far less than titanium and allowed for welding, along with heat-resistant seals.
[Gordon 2008] The MiG-25 was constructed from 80%
nickel-steel alloy, 11%
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
, and 9%
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
.
[Eden 2004, p. 308.] The steel components were formed by a combination of
spot welding, automatic
machine welding, and hand
arc welding
Arc welding is a welding process that is used to join metal to metal by using electricity to create enough heat to melt metal, and the melted metals, when cool, result in a binding of the metals. It is a type of welding that uses a welding powe ...
methods.
Initially, the interceptor version was equipped with the TL-25 ''Smerch-A'' (also referred to as ''Product 720'')
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
, a development of the system carried by the earlier
Tu-128
The Tupolev Tu-28 (NATO reporting name Fiddler) was a long-range interceptor aircraft introduced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The official designation was Tu-128, but this designation was less commonly used in the West. It was the largest ...
. While powerful and thus long-ranged and resistant to jamming, the system—due to the age of its design and its intended purpose (tracking and targeting high- and fast-flying US bombers and reconnaissance aircraft)—lacked
look-down/shoot-down A radar system has look-down/shoot-down capability if it can detect, track and guide a weapon to an air target that (as seen by the radar) is silhouetted against the ground.
Problem and naming
Airborne intercept radar relying exclusively on time ...
capability, which limited its effectiveness against low-flying targets. (This is one of the reasons why it was replaced with the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31
The Mikoyan MiG-31 (russian: link=no, Микоян МиГ-31; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a ...
, whose
Zaslon
The Russian (former USSR) BRLS-8B "Zaslon" (Barrier) is an all-weather multimode airborne radar developed between 1975 and 1980 by the Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design as part of the weapons control system of the MiG- ...
radar has that capability.) By the time the MiG-25 entered service in 1969, this was a serious shortcoming, as strategic bombing doctrine was shifting towards low-level penetration of enemy territory. After Belenko's defection to Japan exposed this flaw to the West, a government decree issued on 4 November 1976 called for urgent development of a more advanced radar. This resulted in the
pulse-Doppler radar
A pulse-Doppler radar is a radar system that determines the range to a target using pulse-timing techniques, and uses the Doppler effect of the returned signal to determine the target object's velocity. It combines the features of pulse radars an ...
''Sapphire-25'' system fitted to the MiG-25PD variant.
As an interceptor, typical armament includes four
R-40 long-range
air-to-air missile
The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back)
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...
s, each fitted with either an infrared seeker (R-40T/TD) or a
semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is ...
seeker (R-40R/RD) and a maximum range of against a high-flying target on a collision course. A fuel tank could be suspended under the fuselage. The aircraft could carry unguided gravity bombs to fulfill a rudimentary strike role. As the bombs would weigh no more and incur no more drag than its regular load of R-40 missiles, its performance was not impaired, leading to some impressive bombing feats; when released at an altitude of and a speed above Mach 2, a bomb would have a range of several tens of kilometres.
The MiG-25 was theoretically capable of a maximum speed exceeding Mach 3 and a ceiling of . Its high speed was problematic: although sufficient thrust was available to reach Mach 3.2, a limit of Mach 2.83 had to be imposed as the engines tended to overspeed and overheat at higher air speeds, possibly damaging them beyond repair.
The design cruising speed is Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h) with partial afterburner in operation. The maximum speed of Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h) is allowed to maintain no more than 5 minutes due to the danger of overheating of the airframe and fuel in the tanks. When the airframe temperature reaches , the warning lamp lights up, and the pilot must reduce airspeed. The use of a partial afterburner and a cruising flight altitude makes it possible to have a range only less than when flying Mach 0.9 at altitudes . The maximum altitude of flight without an afterburner in operation is . The poor fuel consumption in the subsonic regime, and hence range, is due to the engines having extremely low pressure ratio of just 4.75 at subsonic speeds. The
specific fuel consumption (SFC) of the engines is 1.12lb/(h·lbf) in cruise and 2.45lb/(h·lbf) with afterburners. For comparison purposes, this is 50% worse in cruise than the first generation of
F100 engines from the F-15 Eagle, but the SFC with afterburners is actually nearly equal, despite the F100 being a far newer engine design.
Production
![MiG-25RB cams](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/MiG-25RB_cams.jpg)
Full-scale production of the ''MiG-25R'' ("Foxbat-B") began in 1969 at the
Gorkii aircraft factory (Plant No. 21). The ''MiG-25P'' ("Foxbat-A") followed in 1971, and 460 of this variant were built until production ended in 1982. The improved PD variant that replaced it was built from 1978 till 1984, with 104 aircraft completed.
Subsequently the Gorkii factory switched over production to the new
MiG-31
The Mikoyan MiG-31 (russian: link=no, Микоян МиГ-31; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a ...
.
Western intelligence and the MiG-25
![Mig-25](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Mig-25.jpg)
Inaccurate intelligence analysis caused the West initially to believe the MiG-25 was an agile air-combat fighter rather than an interceptor. In response, the United States started a new program, which resulted in the
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
obtained a better understanding of the MiG-25's capabilities on 6 September 1976, when a
Soviet Air Defence Forces
The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...
pilot, Lt.
Viktor Belenko
Viktor Ivanovich Belenko (russian: Виктор Иванович Беленко, born 15 February 1947) is a Russian-born American aerospace engineer and former Soviet pilot who defected in 1976 to the West while flying his MiG-25 jet intercep ...
,
defected
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
, landing his MiG-25P at
in Japan.
[Barron 1980, p. 15.] The pilot overshot the runway on landing and damaged the front landing gear. Despite Soviet protests, the Japanese invited U.S. Air Force personnel to investigate the aircraft.
[Barron 1980, p. 131.] On 25 September, it was moved by a C-5A transport to a base in central Japan, where it was carefully dismantled and analyzed.
[Barron 1980, photoplates.] After 67 days, the aircraft was returned by ship to the Soviets, in pieces.
[Barron 1980, p. 180.] The aircraft was reassembled and is now on display at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod.
The analysis, based on technical manuals and ground tests of its engines and avionics, revealed unusual technical information:
* Belenko's particular aircraft was brand new, representing the latest Soviet technology.
* The aircraft was assembled quickly and was essentially built around its massive
Tumansky R-15
The Tumansky R-15 is an axial flow, single shaft turbojet with an afterburner. Its best known use is on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25.
Design and development
The R-15-300 was designed at the OKB-300 design bureau led by Sergei Tumansky in the lat ...
(B) turbojets.
*
Welding
Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Welding is distinct from lower ...
was done by hand. Rivets with non-flush heads were used in areas that would not cause adverse
aerodynamic drag
In fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called air resistance, a type of friction, or fluid resistance, another type of friction or fluid friction) is a force acting opposite to the relative motion of any object moving with respect to a surrounding fl ...
.
* The aircraft was built of a nickel-steel alloy and not
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
, as was assumed (although some titanium was used in heat-critical areas). The steel construction contributed to the craft's high unarmed weight.
* Maximum acceleration (
''g''-load) rating was just 2.2 ''g'' (21.6 m/s
2) with full fuel tanks, with an absolute limit of 4.5 ''g'' (44.1 m/s
2). One MiG-25 withstood an inadvertent 11.5 ''g'' (112.8 m/s
2) pull during low-altitude dogfight training, but the resulting deformation damaged the airframe beyond repair.
* Combat radius was , and maximum range on internal fuel (at subsonic speeds) was only at low altitude, less than .
* The
airspeed indicator
The airspeed indicator (ASI) or airspeed gauge is a flight instrument indicating the airspeed of an aircraft in kilometers per hour (km/h), knots (kn), miles per hour (MPH) and/or meters per second (m/s). The recommendation by ICAO is to use km ...
was redlined at Mach 2.8, with typical intercept speeds near Mach 2.5 in order to extend the service life of the engines.
A MiG-25 was tracked flying over the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
at Mach 3.2 in the early 1970s, but the flight led to the engines being damaged beyond repair.
[Barron 1980, pp. 169–171.]
* The majority of the on-board
avionics
Avionics (a blend word, blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, ...
were based on
vacuum-tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as a ...
technology, more specifically
nuvistor
The nuvistor is a type of vacuum tube announced by RCA in 1959. Nuvistors were made to compete with the then-new bipolar junction transistors, and were much smaller than conventional tubes of the day, almost approaching the compactness of ea ...
s, not
solid-state electronics
Solid-state electronics means semiconductor electronics: electronic equipment using semiconductor devices such as transistors, diodes and integrated circuits (ICs). The term is also used as an adjective for devices in which semiconductor electr ...
. Although they represented aging technology, vacuum tubes were more tolerant of temperature extremes, thereby removing the need for environmental controls in the avionics bays. With the use of vacuum tubes, the MiG-25P's original ''Smerch-A'' (''Tornado'', NATO reporting name "Foxfire")
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
had enormous power, about 600
kilowatts
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
. As with most Soviet aircraft, the MiG-25 was designed to be as robust as possible. The use of vacuum tubes also made the aircraft's systems resistant to an
electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also a transient electromagnetic disturbance (TED), is a brief burst of electromagnetic energy. Depending upon the source, the origin of an EMP can be natural or artificial, and can occur as an electromagnetic fie ...
, for example, after a nuclear blast. They were also presumably used to provide
radiation hardening
Radiation hardening is the process of making electronic components and circuits resistant to damage or malfunction caused by high levels of ionizing radiation (particle radiation and high-energy electromagnetic radiation), especially for environ ...
for the avionics.
Later versions
As the result of Belenko's defection and the compromise of the MiG-25P's radar and missile systems, beginning in 1976, the Soviets started to develop an advanced version, the ''MiG-25PD'' ("Foxbat-E").
Plans for a new aircraft to develop the MiG-25's potential to go faster than the in-service limit of Mach 2.8 were designed as a flying prototype. Unofficially designated MiG-25M, it had new powerful engines R15BF2-300, improved radar, and missiles. This work never resulted in a machine for series production, as the coming
MiG-31
The Mikoyan MiG-31 (russian: link=no, Микоян МиГ-31; NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a ...
showed more promise.
Operational history
Soviet Union
![MiG-25PU rvb 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/MiG-25PU_rvb_2.jpg)
The unarmed 'B' version had greater impact than the interceptor when the USSR sent two MiG-25R and two MiG-25RB to Egypt in March 1971, which stayed until July 1972. They were operated by the Soviet 63rd Independent Air Detachment (Det 63), which was established for this mission. Det 63 flew over Israeli-held territory in
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
on reconnaissance missions roughly 20 times. The flights were in pairs at maximum speed and high altitude, between .
On 6 November 1971, a Soviet MiG-25 operating out of Egypt flying at Mach 2.5 was met by Israeli F-4Es and fired upon unsuccessfully.
["Foxbats over Sinai."](_blank)
''spyflight.co.uk.'' Retrieved: 5 September 2010. A MiG-25 was tracked flying over Sinai at Mach 3.2 during this period. The MiG-25 engines went into
overspeed, which led to them being scrapped.
Det 63 was sent back home in 1972. Soviet-operated reconnaissance Foxbats returned to Egypt in 19–20 October 1973, during the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
.
Det 154 remained in Egypt until late 1974.
During the 1970s, the Soviet air force conducted reconnaissance overflights across Iran using its MiG-25RBSh aircraft in response to
joint US-Iran recon operations.
The
Swedish Air Force
The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...
observed Soviet Air Defence MiG-25s via radar regularly performing intercepts at and behind the
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird at over the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
in the 1980s.
Syria
On 13 February 1981, the
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...
sent two
RF-4
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and B ...
Es over
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
as decoys for Syrian MiG-25 interceptors. As the MiGs scrambled, the RF-4Es turned back delivering chaff and using ECM pods. Two IDF/AF
F-15
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
As were waiting for the MiGs and shot one of them down with
AIM-7F Sparrow missiles. The other MiG was able to escape. In a similar engagement, on 29 July 1981, a Syrian MiG-25 was again downed by an Israeli F-15A,
[Gordon 1997, p. 53.] after which a second MiG-25 launched its R-40 missiles at the F-15 and its wingman, but they missed.
The first reported activity of Syrian MiG-25 aircraft in the civil war was on 8 February 2014, when two Turkish Air Force F-16s were scrambled to intercept a Syrian MiG-25 which was approaching the Turkish border.
Iraq
Iran–Iraq War
All confirmed air-to-air kills by the MiG-25 were made by Iraq.
The MiG-25 was in service with the
Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...
during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
. Iraqi claimed their MiG-25s shot down at least 15 Iranian aircraft during the war, while only one MiG-25 was lost in air combat (one more lost by SAM
[Iran-Iraq War in the Air 1980–1988 (2002). Tom Cooper, Farzad Bishop.])
* On 19 March 1982, an Iranian
F-4E was badly damaged by a missile fired by an Iraqi MiG-25.
* 24 November 1982 an Iraqi MiG-25PD over Eivan shot down an Iranian F-5F.
[Потери ВВС Ирана](_blank)
/ref>
* In December 1982, an Iraqi MiG-25PD over Baghdad shot down an Iranian F-5E.
* Iraqi MiG-25s made another kill against Iran in February 1983, when an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian C-130
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...
.
* In April 1984, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian F-5E.
* On 21 March 1985, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian F-4E (Iranian pilots Hossein Khalatbari
Hossein Khalatbari Mokarram ( fa, حسین خلعتبری; 4 October 1949 – 21 March 1985) was an Iranian fighter pilot who served in the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during Iran–Iraq War. He had flown both D- and E-models of McDonnel ...
and Mohhamad Zadeh were killed).
* 5 June 1985 an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down a second Iranian F-4E.
* 17 February 1986 an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian Fokker F-27, all 53 people, crew and high ranked officers were killed.
* On 23 February 1986, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian EC-130E
The Lockheed Martin EC-130 series comprises several slightly different versions of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules that have been and continue to be operated by the U.S. Air Force and, until the 1990s, the U.S. Navy.
The EC-130E Airborne Battlefie ...
.
* 10 June 1986 an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian RF-4E.
* In October 1986, an Iraqi MiG-25PDS shot down a second RF-4E.
* On 17 January 1987, an Iraqi MiG-25PDS shot down an Iranian F-14A with an R-40 missile. Iranian pilot Major Bahram Ghaneie was rescued, operator Lieutenant Reza Vadtalab was killed. For a long time it was believed that this air victory was won by a MiG-23ML.
The most successful Iraqi MiG-25 pilot of the war was Colonel Mohommed Rayyan
Colonel Mohammed Rayyan (died 1986), nicknamed "Sky Falcon," was a fighter pilot with the Iraqi Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War. He scored 5 air combat kills.''Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat'', by David Nicolle and Tom Cooper, (2004) ...
, who was credited with ten kills. Eight of these were while flying the MiG-25PD from 1981 to 1986. In 1986, after attaining the rank of Colonel, Rayyan was shot down and killed by Iranian F-14s. For the majority of the air combat Iraqi pilots used R-40 missiles.
* On 3 May 1981, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Algerian Gulfstream II.
* On 2 October 1986, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down a Syrian MiG-21RF.
According to research by journalist Tom Cooper, Iranian claimed ten MiG-25s (nine reconnaissance and one fighter) may have been shot down by Iranian F-14s (one of them shared with an F-5) during the Iran-Iraq war.[Cooper, Tom and Farzad Bishop. ''Iranian F-14 Tomcat Units in Combat'', pp. 85–88. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004.] Only three MiG-25 losses (to ground fire or air combat) were confirmed by Iraq.
Confirmed MiG-25 combat losses during Iran-Iraq war:
* June 1983 an Iraqi MiG-25R piloted by Colonel Abdullah Faraj Mohammad was shot down by an Iranian fighter jet F-14A.
* 25 February 1987 an Iraqi MiG-25RB piloted by Lieutenant Sayer Sobhi Ahmad was shot down by an Iranian SAM HQ-2, pilot was captured.
Persian Gulf War
During the Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
, a U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
F/A-18
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part ...
, piloted by Lt Cdr Scott Speicher, was shot down on the first night of the war by a missile fired by a MiG-25.["Intelligence Community Assessment of the Lieutenant Commander Speicher Case".](_blank)
''CIA'', FOIA Electronic Reading Room, 27 March 2001. Retrieved: 10 September 2006. The kill was reportedly made with a Bisnovat R-40
The Bisnovat (later Molniya then ''Vympel'') R-40 (NATO reporting name AA-6 'Acrid') is a long-range air-to-air missile developed in the 1960s by the Soviet Union specifically for the MiG-25P interceptor, but can also be carried by the later M ...
TD missile fired from a MiG-25PDS flown by Lt. Zuhair Dawood of the 84th squadron of the IQAF,
Two IQAF MiG-25s were shot down by U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
F-15s on 19 January. The MiGs attempted to hide from the F-15s by using chaff and electronic jammers in order to engage the F-15s untargeted. However the F-15 pilots were able to reacquire the two Iraqi MiG-25s and shot both down with AIM-7 Sparrow
The AIM-7 Sparrow (Air Intercept Missile) is an American, medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and United States Marine Corps, as well as other various air forces ...
missiles. In another incident, an Iraqi MiG-25PD, after eluding eight USAF F-15s at long range, fired three missiles at General Dynamics EF-111A Raven electronic warfare aircraft, forcing them to abort their mission and leave attacking aircraft without electronic jamming support.
In a different incident, two MiG-25s approached a pair of F-15s, fired missiles at long range which were evaded by the F-15s, and then outran the American fighters. Two more F-15s joined the pursuit, and a total of 10 air-to-air missiles were fired at the MiG-25s, though none reached them.
On 30 January 1991, an IQAF MiG-25 damaged a USAF F-15C by a R-40 missile in the Samurra Air Battle. Iraq claims
Claim may refer to:
* Claim (legal)
* Claim of Right Act 1689
* Claims-based identity
* Claim (philosophy)
* Land claim
* A ''main contention'', see conclusion of law
* Patent claim
* The assertion of a proposition; see Douglas N. Walton
* A righ ...
it was shot down and fell in Saudi Arabia.
After the war, on 27 December 1992, a U.S. F-16D downed an IQAF MiG-25 that violated the no-fly zone
A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's te ...
in southern Iraq with an AIM-120 AMRAAM
The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...
missile. It was the first USAF F-16 air-to-air victory and the first AMRAAM kill.
On 23 December 2002, an Iraqi MiG-25 shot down a U.S. Air Force unmanned MQ-1 Predator
The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ...
drone, which was performing armed reconnaissance over Iraq. This was the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat. Predators had been armed with AIM-92 Stinger
The Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS) (also unofficially called AIM-92 Stinger) is an air-to-air missile system developed from the shoulder-launched FIM-92 Stinger, for use on helicopters such as the AH-64 Apache, T129 ATAK, Eurocopter Tiger, and also ...
air-to-air missiles and were being used to "bait" Iraqi fighter aircraft, then run. In this incident, the Predator did not run, but instead fired one of the Stingers, which missed, while the MiG's missile did not.
No Iraqi aircraft were deployed in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, with most Iraqi aircraft being hidden or destroyed on the ground. In August 2003, several dozen Iraqi aircraft were discovered buried in the sand.
India
The MiG-25 was kept a guarded secret in India, designated ''Garuda
Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...
'' named after the large mythical bird of God Vishnu from Hindu scriptures.[ It was used extensively in the ]Kargil War
The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...
and Operation Parakram
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
, conducting aerial reconnaissance sorties over Pakistan.[Bhonsle 2006, p. 256.]
In May 1997, an Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
Mikoyan MiG-25RB reconnaissance aircraft created a furor when the pilot flew faster than Mach 3 over Pakistani territory following a reconnaissance mission into Pakistan airspace.["So long, old superspy in the sky – Record-holder MiG 25, Indian Air Force’s relic from the Cold War era, flies its last sortie"](_blank)
The Telegraph 1 May 2006 The MiG-25 broke the sound barrier while flying at an altitude of around , otherwise the mission would have remained covert, at least to the general public. The Pakistani Government contended that the breaking of the sound barrier was a deliberate attempt to make the point that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had no aircraft in its inventory that could come close to the MiG-25's cruising altitude (up to ). India denied the incident but Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Gohar Ayub Khan, believed that the Foxbat photographed strategic installations near the capital, Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
.
Lack of spare parts and India's acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
s and satellite imagery eventually led to its retirement in 2006.
An aerial observation of the solar eclipse of 24 October 1995 over India was conducted by a MiG-25, which took images of the eclipse at an altitude of .
Libya
Libya was a major user of the MiG-25 as it imported 96 MiG-25PD interceptor, MiG-25PU trainer and MiG-25RBK reconnaissance aircraft in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
During the 1980s, Libya confronted the United States over some claims over the extension of its territorial waters. These incidents prompted a number of encounters between the opposing forces as it happened during the Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)
In the first Gulf of Sidra incident, 19 August 1981, two Libyan Su-22 Fitters fired upon two U.S. F-14 Tomcats and were subsequently shot down off the Libyan coast. Libya had claimed that the entire Gulf was their territory, at 32° 30′ N, w ...
with the Libyan MiG-25s taking part in them.
During the following years, the Libyan MiG-25 fleet was grounded, lacking maintenance. As MiG-25s had been grounded for several years, NATO attacks spared them during the Libyan Civil War (2011)
The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Libya ...
.
In 2014 and 2015, the Libyan forces under the New General National Congress
The General National Congress or General National Council (GNC; ar, المؤتمر الوطني العام, Berber: Agraw Amuran Amatay) was the legislative authority of Libya for two years following the end of the First Libyan Civil War. It w ...
controlled a number of former LARAF airframes, that were retired and stored before the Libyan Civil War in 2011, among them a number of MiG-25s. Technicians started working on some of the airframes to press them back to service in the fight against the opposing internationally recognized Libyan government forces.
On 6 May 2015, a New General National Congress
The General National Congress or General National Council (GNC; ar, المؤتمر الوطني العام, Berber: Agraw Amuran Amatay) was the legislative authority of Libya for two years following the end of the First Libyan Civil War. It w ...
MiG-25PU crashed near Zintan
Zintan ( ar, الزنتان Latin: Tentheos, Berber language: ''Zintan'' or ''Tigharmin'' or ''Tiɣaṛmin'', meaning "small castles") is one of the biggest cities in north western Libya, situated roughly southwest of Tripoli, in the area. The ...
while attacking the civilian airport controlled by the opposing internationally recognized Libyan government, the pilot ejected and was captured by opposing forces which also claimed they downed the jet. The jet may have been on one of its first flights after re-entering service.
Variants
Prototypes
;Ye-155R
: Reconnaissance prototypes. Two prototypes (''Ye-155R-1'' and ''Ye-155R-2'') followed by four pre-production aircraft fitted with reconnaissance equipment.[Lake 1998, pp. 108–109.]
;Ye-155P
: Interceptor fighter prototypes. Two prototypes (''Ye-155P-1'' and ''Ye-155P02'') followed by nine pre-production aircraft.[Lake 1998, pp. 109–110.]
;Ye-266
: Designation applied to prototypes and pre-production aircraft (''Ye-155R-1'', ''Ye-155R-3'' and ''Ye-155P-1'') used for record breaking purposes in official documentation supplied to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...
.[Lake 1998, p. 110.]
Interceptors
;MiG-25P
: Single-seat all-weather interceptor fighter aircraft, powered by two Tumansky R-15
The Tumansky R-15 is an axial flow, single shaft turbojet with an afterburner. Its best known use is on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25.
Design and development
The R-15-300 was designed at the OKB-300 design bureau led by Sergei Tumansky in the lat ...
B-300 turbojet engines, fitted with RP-25 ''Smerch''-A1 radar and armed with four R-40 air-to-air missiles. NATO designation ''Foxbat-A''.[Lake 1998, pp. 110–111.]
;MiG-25PD
: Improved single-seat all-weather interceptor fighter aircraft, which entered service from 1979. Fitted with R-15BD-300 engines and new N-005 ''Saphir''-25 (RP-25M) Pulse-Doppler radar
A pulse-Doppler radar is a radar system that determines the range to a target using pulse-timing techniques, and uses the Doppler effect of the returned signal to determine the target object's velocity. It combines the features of pulse radars an ...
with look-down/shoot down capability, based on the radar of the MiG-23ML. Could be fitted with four R-60 air-to-air missiles replacing outermost two R-40 missiles. Late examples fitted with an undernose IRST
An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters.
IR ...
. NATO designation ''Foxbat-E''.[Lake 1998, p. 112.]
;MiG-25PDS
: Upgrade of surviving MiG-25Ps to MiG-25PD standard from 1979. NATO designation ''Foxbat-E''.[Lake 1998, p. 113.]
;MiG-25PDSL
:Single MiG-25PD modified by addition of electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...
(ECM) equipment.
;MiG-25PDZ
:Single MiG-25PD modified with retractable in-flight refuelling probe.
;MiG-25M
:Two testbeds (one converted from a MiG-25RB and one from a MiG-25PD) for more powerful ( dry, with afterburner) engines.[Lake 1998, p. 114.]
;Ye-266M
: Designation applied to MiG-25M when used for record breaking in 1975 and 1977, including setting an absolute altitude record for a jet aircraft
A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines.
Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
of on 31 August 1977.
;Izdelye 99
: Two aircraft used as testbeds for Soloviev D-30
The Soloviev D-30 (now the Aviadvigatel PS-30) is a Soviet two-shaft low-bypass turbofan engine, officially referred to as a "bypass turbojet". It is probably the single most important turbofan engine developed in the Soviet Union. Development o ...
F turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
as later used in MiG-31.
Reconnaissance and strike versions
;MiG-25R
: Single-seat high-altitude daylight reconnaissance aircraft, fitted with cameras and ELINT
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
equipment. NATO codename ''Foxbat-B''.[Lake 1998, p. 115.]
;MiG-25RB
: Single-seat reconnaissance-bomber derivative of MiG-25R, fitted with improved reconnaissance systems and a Peleng automatic bombing system. The aircraft can carry a bombload of eight bombs. Entered service in 1970. NATO codename ''Foxbat-B''.
;MiG-25RBV
: Modernised single-seat reconnaissance-bomber with revised ELINT equipment (SRS-9 ''Virazh''). NATO codename ''Foxbat-B''.[Lake 1998, p. 116.]
;MiG-25RBT
: Further improved reconnaissance-bomber, with ''Tangazh'' ELINT equipment. NATO codename ''Foxbat-B''.[Lake 1998, p. 117.]
;MiG-25RBN
:Dedicated night reconnaissance aircraft, carrying 10 photoflash bombs under the fuselage. Only single prototype built. NATO codename ''Foxbat-B''.
;MiG-25RR
: Conversion of eight reconnaissance aircraft for high-altitude radiation sampling role. Used to monitor Chinese nuclear tests between 1970 and 1980. NATO codename ''Foxbat-B''.
;MiG-25RBK
: Single-seat dedicated ELINT aircraft, with ''Kub-3K'' ELINT system. Bombing capability retained but cameras not fitted. NATO codename ''Foxbat-D''.
;MiG-25RBF
: Conversion of MiG-25RBK with new ''Shar-25'' ELINT equipment. NATO codename ''Foxbat-D''.[Lake 1998, p. 118.]
;MiG-25RBS
: Single-seat radar-reconnaissance aircraft, with ''Sablya-E'' side looking airborne radar
Side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) is an aircraft- or satellite-mounted imaging radar pointing perpendicular to the direction of flight (hence ''side-looking''). A squinted (nonperpendicular) mode is possible also. SLAR can be fitted with a st ...
(SLAR). Cameras not fitted but bombing capability retained. NATO codename ''Foxbat-D''.
;MiG-25RBSh
: MiG-25RBS fitted with more capable ''Shompol'' SLAR. NATO codename ''Foxbat-D''.
;MiG-25BM "Foxbat-F": Single-seat defence-suppression aircraft, armed with Kh-58
The Kh-58 (russian: Х-58; NATO:AS-11 'Kilter') is a Soviet anti-radiation missile with a range of 120 km. the Kh-58U variant was still the primary anti-radiation missile of Russia and its allies. It is being superseded by the Kh-31. The ...
or Kh-31
The Kh-31 (russian: Kha (Cyrillic), Х-31; AS-17 'Krypton') is a Russian air-to-surface missile carried by aircraft such as the MiG-29 or Su-27. It is capable of Mach number, Mach 3.5 and was the first supersonic anti-ship missile that could be la ...
air-to-surface missiles.[Gunston and Spick 1983, pp. 132–133.]
Conversion trainers
;MiG-25PU
: Two-seat conversion trainer for MiG-25P interceptors. Fitted with a new nose section with two separate cockpits. It has no radar and no combat capability. NATO codename ''Foxbat-C''.
;MiG-25RU
: Two-seat conversion trainer for reconnaissance versions. Fitted with MiG-25R navigation system. NATO codename ''Foxbat-C''.
;Ye-133
: Designation given to single MiG-25PU used by Svetlana Savitskaya to establish a number of women's speed and height records, starting with speed over a course of on 22 June 1975.[Belyakov and Marmain 1994, p. 404.]
Operators
;
*Syrian Air Force
)
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 16 October
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War
* Six-Day War
* Yom Kippur War
* ...
– 2 in service as of December 2022; 16 MiG-25PDs, 8 MiG-25RBs and 2 MiG-25PUs trainers were received.[Hoyle ''Flight International'' 6–12 December 2016, p. 48.]
Former operators
;
*Algerian Air Force
The Algerian Air Force (AAF) ( ar, القُوَّاتُ الجَوِّيَّةُ الجَزَائِرِيَّةُ, links=, lit=, translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyyah al-Ǧazāʾiriyyah, french: Forces aériennes algériennes, links=, lit=, translit ...
– Was the last operator to the MiG-25 before retiring.
;
*Armenian Air Force
The Armenian Air Force ( hy, Հայաստանի Ռազմաօդային Ուժեր, Hayastani Razmaodayin Uzher) is the air arm of the Armed Forces of Armenia formed by independent Armenia in 1992 in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Unio ...
;
* Bulgarian Air Force – Three MiG-25RBTs (#731, #736 and #754) and one MiG-25RU (#51) aircraft were delivered in 1982. On 12 April 1984, #736 crashed near Balchik Airfield
Balchik Airfield ( bg, Летище Балчик) , is a general aviation airfield and reduced former military airbase in the town of Balchik, northeast Bulgaria, on the Black Sea coast. In August 2011 the Bulgarian government transformed Balchik ...
. The pilot ejected successfully. They were operated by the 26th Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment at Tolbukhin Airfield (today Dobrich) until their withdrawal. In May 1991, the surviving MiG-25s were returned to the USSR in exchange for five MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...
MLDs.
;
*Belarus Air Force
The Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Ваенна-паветраныя сілы і войскі супрацьпаветранай абароны Рэспублікі Беларусь, Vajenna-pavietranyja sily i ...
– Had up to 50 MiG-25s, including 13 MiG-25PDs; by 1995 the type had been withdrawn.[
;
*]Indian Air Force
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...
– Took delivery of six MiG-25RBKs and two MiG-25RUs in 1981. They were operated by No. 102 Squadron "Trisonics" based at Bakshi Ka Talab
Bakshi Ka Talab is a nagar panchayat town in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the headquarters of a corresponding tehsil, as well as a community development block of the same name. As of 2011, its population was 49,166, i ...
AB in Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. One RBK crashed on 3 August 1994.[ Retired from service in May 2006.]["India retires Cold War spy MiGs."]
''BBC News.'' 9 April 2006. Retrieved: 30 June 2011. The Trishul air-base in Bareilly
Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...
had Foxbats capable of flying up to .
;
*Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...
– Had seven MiG-25PUs, nine MiG-25RBs, and 19 MiG-25PD/PDSs as of January 1991. During the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) most of them were destroyed on the ground, two were shot down and seven were flown over to Iran.
;
*Georgian Air Force
The Aviation and Air Defence Command of the Defence Forces ( ka, თავდაცვის ძალების ავიაციისა და საჰაერო თავდაცვის სარდლობა, tr), (''formerly'' ...
;
;
*Libyan Air Force
The Libyan Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الليبية) is the branch of the Libyan Armed Forces responsible for aerial warfare. In 2010, before the Libyan Civil War, the Libyan Air Force personnel strength was estimated at 18,000 ...
– Once operated a large number of MiG-25s.
;
*Russian Air Force
" Air March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 12 August
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles =
, decorations =
, bat ...
;
*Soviet Air Forces
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
and Soviet Air Defence Forces
The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...
– The largest combined operator historically. Soviet aircraft were passed on to its successor states in 1991.
;
*Military of Turkmenistan
The Armed Forces of Turkmenistan ( tk, Türkmenistanyň Ýaragly Güýçleri), known informally as the Turkmen National Army () is the national military of Turkmenistan. It consists of the Ground Forces, the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, N ...
;
*Ukrainian Air Force
The Ukrainian Air Force ( uk, Пові́тряні си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни) is the air force of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its headquarters are in the city of Vinnytsia. W ...
– Took over 79 aircraft after the breakup of the USSR.[ They have been withdrawn from service.
]
Aircraft on display
* MiG-25PD Red 49 (c/n N84008895) is on display at the Central Armed Forces Museum, Moscow, Russia.
* MiG-25RB (s/n 25105) is in the restoration facility at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
, US. This aircraft was found in 2003 during the opening months of Operation Iraqi Freedom
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
by American forces, buried in the sand near Al Taqaddum Airbase
Al Taqaddum Airbase ( ar, قاعدة التقدم الجوية), or Al Taqaddum AB , (Called TQ in military shorthand slang), is an air base that is located in central Iraq, approximately 74 kilometers (46 miles) west of Baghdad, at Habbaniyah. T ...
, about west of Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. The aircraft had been buried to prevent its destruction on the ground by coalition aircraft. When uncovered, the MiG-25RB was incomplete, as the wings could not be located. This aircraft was one of two MiG-25s transported by a Lockheed C-5A Galaxy from Iraq to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...
for examination. It was donated to the National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
in December 2006. The museum's restoration staff is currently attempting to locate a set of wings to complete the aircraft for display.["Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25."]
''nationalmuseum.af.mil''. Retrieved: 7 September 2015.
* MiG-25R (s/n KP355) is on display at the Indian Air Force Museum at Palam, New Delhi, another at National Defence Academy (India)
The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...
, Khadakwasla
Khadakwasla Dam is a dam on the Mutha River from the centre of the city of Pune in Maharashtra, India. The dam created a reservoir known as Khadakwasla Lake which is the main source of water for Pune and its suburbs.
In the vicinity of Khada ...
, Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
(Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
), and two MiG-25U trainers (s/n DS361 and DS362) are preserved at Kalaikunda Air Force Station
Kalaikunda Air Force Station
is an Indian Air Force Base in Kharagpur, located in the West Midnapur district of the state of West Bengal. It was the home of No. 18 Squadron IAF, the Flying Bullets. The squadron flew the Indian license-buil ...
in the Midnapore District
Midnapore district was a district of the state of West Bengal, India. This district was bifurcated on 1 January 2002 into the Purba Medinipur district and the Paschim Medinipur district. On 4 April 2017, the Jhargram subdivision of Paschim Medin ...
of West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
, India.
* MiG-25RBSh was bought by Estonian Aviation Museum
The Estonian Aviation Museum is located in Lange near Tartu in Estonia. It is the only aviation museum in the country.
The museum was founded in December 1999 in accordance with a private initiative procedure and officially opened to the public ...
in 2016 from a private owner in Finland, who had purchased it from Russia after the dissolution of Soviet Union. The aircraft is displayed as part of the museum's exposition in Tartumaa
Tartu County ( et, Tartu maakond or ''Tartumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia.
It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County.
The area of Tartu County is , which covers 6.9% of t ...
, Estonia since June 2016.
Specifications (MiG-25P / MiG-25PD)
See also
References
;Notes
;Citations
;Bibliography
* Aloni, Shlomo. ''Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006. .
* Atkinson, Rick. ''Crusade: The Untold History of the Persian Gulf War''. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993. .
* Barron, John. ''MiG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980. .
* Belyakov, R.A. and J. Marmain. ''MiG: Fifty Years of Secret Aircraft Design''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1994. .
* Bhonsle, Brig. Rahul K. ''India: Security Scope 2006 The New Great Game''. Delhi, India: Kalpaz Publications, 2006. .
* Cooper, Tom and Farzad Bishop. ''Iranian F-14 Units in Combat.'' London: Osprey Publishing, 2004. .
* Davies, Steve. ''Combat Legend, F-15 Eagle and Strike Eagle''. London: Airlife Publishing, Ltd., 2002. .
* Eden, Paul, ed. "Mikoyan MiG-25 'Foxbat'". "Mikoyan MiG-31 'Foxhound'". ''Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft''. London: Amber Books, 2004. .
* Frawley, Gerald. "Mikoyan MiG-25." ''The International Directory of Military Aircraft, 2002/2003''. Fyshwick, ACT, Australia: Aerospace Publications, 2002. .
* Gordon, Yefim. ''MiG-25 'Foxbat' & MiG-31 'Foxhound': Russia's Defensive Front Line''. Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 1997. .
* Gordon, Yefim. ''Mikoyan MiG-25 Foxbat: Guardian of the Soviet Borders'' (Red Star Vol. 34). Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2008. .
* Gordon, Yefim and Bill Gunston. ''Soviet X-Planes.'' Earl Shilton, Leicester, UK: Midland Publishing Ltd., 2000. .
* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Great Book of Fighters''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International Publishing, 2001. .
* Gunston, Bill. ''An Illustrated Guide to Modern Fighters and Attack Aircraft.'' London: Salamander Books, 1980. .
* Gunston, Bill and Mike Spick. "Mikoyan/Gurevich MiG-25." ''Modern Air Combat: The Aircraft, Tactics and Weapons Employed in Aerial Combat Today.'' New York: Crescent Books, 1983. .
* Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces". ''Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...
'', Vol. 188, No. 5517, 8–14 December 2015. pp. 22–53. .
* Hoyle, Craig. "World Air Forces Directory". ''Flight International'', Vol. 190, No. 5566, 6–12 December 2016. pp. 26–53. .
* Jenkins, Dennis R. ''McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle: Supreme Heavy-Weight Fighter''. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing, 1998. .
* Lake, Jon. "Variant Briefing: MiG-25 'Foxbat' and MiG-31 'Foxhound'". ''World Air Power Journal'', Volume 34, Autumn/Fall 1998, pp. 98–123. London: Aerospace Publishing. . ISSN 0959-7050.
* Nicolle, David and Tom Cooper. ''Arab MiG-19 and MiG-21 Units in Combat'' (Osprey Combat Aircraft 044). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2004. .
* Rich, Ben and Leo Janos. ''Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed''. New York: Little, Brown & Company, 1994. .
* Spick, Mike. ''The Great Book of Modern Warplanes''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International Publishing, 2000. .
* Wilson, Stewart. ''Combat Aircraft since 1945''. Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications, 2000. .
External links
MiG-25 page on GlobalSecurity.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-25
MiG-025
1960s Soviet fighter aircraft
1960s Soviet military reconnaissance aircraft
Twinjets
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1964