SR-71s flew off the coast of Russia, “taunting and toying with MiG-25s sent up to intercept them, scooting up to altitudes the Soviet planes could not reach,” Viktor Belenko, former Soviet MiG-25 pilot
The MiG-25 (NATO reporting name “Foxbat”), an aircraft that seemed to be the deadliest fighter in the world, was made public by the USSR in the latter half of the 1960s. Any fighter in the air, as well as any military aircraft outside the SR-71 Blackbird, could not outrun this aircraft.
The threat posed by either the SR-71 or the B-70 Valkyrie has been attributed at various points to the creation of the MiG-25. The threat posed by the MiG-25 has also been cited as a reason for the cancellation of the Valkyrie, though this explanation is dubious given that the Foxbat wasn’t made public until 1967 and its capabilities weren’t made known until several years later. The new Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), which posed a threat to the survivability of high-speed, high-altitude bombers, were a more plausible cause of the B-70’s cancellation. Nuclear-armed ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles), which are also less expensive, were also entering service. As a result, the pricey B-70 bomber program was abandoned in 1961 before any Valkyries were finished or sent into service.
However, Foxbat’s research and manufacture continued even after the B-70 was shelved. SR-71 Blackbird In Action author Lou Drendel argues that the Habu posed a considerably more serious danger because of its proven capacity to maintain cruise speeds greater than Mach 3 at altitudes more than 80,000 feet.
As mysterious as the Blackbird, the MiG-25 has sometimes been portrayed as invincible and other times as nearly prehistoric in its approach to high-speed and high-altitude flight.
“Naturally, it is to the advantage of the anti-military press to derogate the threat posed by the MiG-25,” says Drendel. “And they were quick to seize upon the fact that it does not approach the sophistication of the Blackbird, even though it was developed in the same time period.”
The MiG-25 employed titanium sparingly (mostly exclusively on the leading edges of the wings and tail), and its arc-welded surface did appear unappealing. Although its engines were strong, they did not have the same improved high-speed performance as the Blackbird due to their comparatively simple airframe.
“On the other hand, the pro-military press feels the need to enhance the threat posed by the MiG-25,” continues Drendel. “And may attach more significance to its design sophistication than is warranted. After all, without the spur of clear and imminent danger, the American People have shown a great deal of reluctance to invest in defense.”
However, until September 6, 1976, western experts lacked reliable information about Foxbat’s capabilities. Lieutenant Viktor Belenko, a Soviet MiG-25 pilot, successfully flew his Foxbat to Hakodate, Japan, on that day to enter the West. After his defection, the U.S. Government briefed him for five months and then hired him as a consultant for several years. Belenko had carried the MiG-25 pilot’s manual with him in hopes of helping American pilots assess and test the aircraft.
He argues that MiG-25 pilots were not allowed to surpass Mach 2.5 in MiG Pilot: The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko, his 1980 autobiography, and he maintains that the Foxbat could not safely exceed 2.8. When informed that MiG-25s were flying above Israel at Mach 3.2, he claimed that the engines had been entirely damaged and that the pilots were lucky to have survived the encounter.
In his autobiography Belenko says that SR-71s flew off the coast of Russia, “taunting and toying with MiG-25s sent up to intercept them, scooting up to altitudes the Soviet planes could not reach, and circling leisurely above them, or dashing off at speeds the Russians could not match.”
The Foxbat could fly up to 78,000 feet when equipped with two R-40 missiles (NATO reporting designation AA-6 “Acrid”), but only 68,900 feet when equipped with all four of its missiles. There was no chance of a tail-chase interception because the SR-71’s cruise speed was faster than the top speed of Acrid missiles, and it appears that the Foxbat’s radar and fire control system was not advanced enough to handle the challenges of a head-on intercept at closing speeds that would surpass Mach 5.
The MiG-31 Foxhound, the ultimate MiG-25 development that posed a real danger to the SR-71, later fixed the majority of these issues. In fact, according to Paul Crickmore’s book Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions, the super-fast Blackbird found it extremely difficult to enter Soviet airspace due to the MiG-31’s potent combination of high performance, passive electronic scanned array radar, digital datalink with other interceptors, and long-range missiles.
Photo by Dmitriy Pichugin and via Wikimedia and U.S. Air Force