[Foxbat]

Came across this picture on Twitter and was pleasantly surprised to find the Foxbat is still on active duty today!



Having signed contract in 1978 with the USSR, Algeria was the first export customer for MiG-25 Foxbat. MiG-25PDS’are still operational today. The 120th Squadron is still operational and keeping two MiG-25PDS’ each on alert at Bechar, Tindouf and Ouragla until today.

More information here:

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/a-qu...ato-exercises/

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Came across this picture on Twitter and was pleasantly surprised to find the Foxbat is still on active duty today!

I'd reckon that in the hands of a well-trained pilot, the Foxbat could outrun todays AMRAAMs. Not to mention they can themselves light up the ground like a floodlight during recce missions.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

I'd reckon that in the hands of a well-trained pilot, the Foxbat could outrun todays AMRAAMs. Not to mention they can themselves light up the ground like a floodlight during recce missions.

The Foxbat along with many other fighter aircraft today may outrun an AMRAAM if it is aware of the missile launch in time to react. It depends on the range, altitude and relative motion between the aircraft.

Copying my post of another thread:

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Also contrary to popular belief, long range missiles launched from a plane don't fly straight towards an aerial target. They follow a parabolic path in which the rocket motors only fires for a small duration enabling it to reach a very high altitude and then it glides to its target. The higher the launch aircraft is the more range of the missile. In this case the PAF F-16s were at 40-45k ft enabling their missiles to have a longer range targeting the IAF Su-30s which were at lower altitude of 10-15k ft. If the positions were reversed the Su-30s would have had a longer range missile firing solution.

Attachment 1993081

Also the range of missile depends on the relative motion of the target, if it is flying away from the launch aircraft range the range is greatly diminished. For example the range for a RVV-AE missile decreases almost 66% when fired against a receding target versus a head on target.

Attachment 1993083

[Foxbat]

Came across this interesting pic and related stories on the Internet about the Mig-25s service over Israel:



Two MiG-25R and two MiG-25RB as part of the 63rd JSC were tested in Egypt, making reconnaissance flights from October 10, 1971 to March 1973 over the Sinai Peninsula, occupied by Israel. The unknown planes were initially called by the Israelis MiG-21 Alpha, MiG-23 and X-500. In case of the need for bombing, special bombs FAB-500T were also delivered to Egypt. Israeli F-4 and Mirage III fighters flew several times to intercept MiGs, in no case did the missiles hit the target. The Israeli use of the MIM-23 Hawk air defense system also turned out to be useless, while the positions of 10 MIM-23 batteries, 3 command posts, radar stations, a radio jamming center and positions of long-range 175-mm artillery were opened.
MiG-25s made about 20 reconnaissance missions directly over the combat zone. In each case, large groups of F-4 Phantom fighters climbed to intercept, not counting others, only 4 times and only Phantoms managed to approach them. These cases happened:

October 10, 1971 - Over the Mediterranean Sea, 30 km from Ashkelon, Phantomies intercepted a Soviet MiG-25 and fired two AIM-7E Sparrow medium-range missiles. Both missiles missed their target;

November 6, 1971 - Over the Sinai Peninsula, Phantoms intercepted a Soviet MiG-25 and fired two AIM-7E Sparrow missiles. Both missiles missed their target;
March 10, 1972 - Over the Sinai Peninsula, Phantoms intercepted a Soviet MiG-25 and fired two AIM-7E Sparrow missiles. Both missiles missed their target;

May 16, 1972 - Four Phantoms intercepted a Soviet MiG-25 over Egypt. One of the fired AIM-7E missiles fell without exploding into Egyptian-controlled territory. The captured missile was handed over to the Soviet troops.

The flights of the "twenty-fifths" over the Sinai Peninsula and Israel continued until July 1972 and made it possible to uncover the structure of two lines of Israeli defenses on the Sinai Peninsula, the air defense network and Israeli airfields. This data was used by the Egyptians to attack the occupied Sinai in 1973 (Yom Kippur War).
Soviet MiG-25s took part in the final stage of the Yom Kippur War, making reconnaissance flights over the Sinai and over Tel Aviv. Four MiG-25RB fighter-bombers of the 154th OJSC were delivered, the first flight was made on October 22. On December 15, an Israeli Phantom fighter was able to intercept a Soviet MiG-25RB, but both AIM-7 missiles fired at it missed the target. The aircraft returned to the Soviet Union in May 1975.

[Foxbat]

End of an Icon: World’s Last Squadron of Mach 3+ Interceptors Retires as Algeria Reportedly Replaces its MiG-25s

The Algerian Air Force has reportedly retired its final squadron of MiG-25 Foxbat heavyweight interceptors, with the aircraft making their last fights during celebration of the country’s sixtieth independence anniversary. Fifteen of the aircraft were in service at the beginning of 2022 including 11 combat variants and four reconnaissance variants, although the fleet at its height was estimated at close to 40 aircraft.

With the class retired from Algerian service, it is likely that the MiG-25’s decades long service life has come to an end 52 years after it first became active in the Soviet Air Force.




Source: https://militarywatchmagazine.com/ar...etires-algeria

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

End of an Icon: World’s Last Squadron of Mach 3+ Interceptors Retires as Algeria Reportedly Replaces its MiG-25s

A matchless aircraft. The likes of which we will not see again for a long time. The MiG-25's greatness was not just in its sustained cruise of Mach 2.8 but the fact that its design lent itself to mass production and affordable costs and multiple variants - fighter, recce, and even bomber - in this lay the sheer brilliance of Messer's Mikoyan and Gurevich. It is easy for the West to decry its valve electronics and steel frame but less easy to appreciate that the valve radar was almost unjammable and the steel frame easy enough to manufacture to build 1186 aircraft. The only comparable is the SR-71 designed for a different singular role of high altitude Mach 3.0 recce. But it was so complicated that each aircraft was virtually made individually like a warship is and only 32 were ever made.

Thank you @Foxbat for updating us.


A heartfelt salute to the MiG bureau as one of aviation's all time super greats flies off into the sunset. In August 1977 a modified MiG-25 achieved the world's absolute altitude record of 123,520 feet. It still stands.


This photo shows all the masterful aspects of the design. With the technology of that era this is the perfect design for a Mach 3.0 interceptor....a Mona Lisa built around two large almost ramjet engines where a substantial part of the thrust augmentation above Mach 2.5 comes from the design of the air intake...and matched to the large low sweep but thin wing rounded off with a massive fuel cell in between the two engines.


Two icons....

Fly higher and higher Foxbat....Adieu

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

The only comparable is the SR-71 designed for a different singular role of high altitude Mach 3.0 recce. But it was so complicated that each aircraft was virtually made individually like a warship is and only 32 were ever made.

I would say the SR-71 was more like an experimental aircraft that only one country with a bottomless defence budget and resources could use compared to the Mig-25 which saw service in 13 different air forces around the world including many developing nations like India.

Not widely known is that 12 SR-71s crashed out of the 32 made which is a loss rate of almost 38%. 11 crashes happened between 1966 and 1972 which would mean an annual attrition rate of almost 7% in this period !

While the Mig-25 operated from normal bases in various countries and were placed on standby 24x7 to take off at a moments notice, the SR-71 required a lot of effort to get into the sky:

"Fuselage panels were manufactured to fit only loosely with the aircraft on the ground. Proper alignment was achieved as the airframe heated up and expanded several inches. Because of this, and the lack of a fuel-sealing system that could handle the airframe's expansion at extreme temperatures, the aircraft leaked JP-7 fuel on the ground prior to takeoff"

"On a typical SR-71 mission, the airplane took off with only a partial fuel load to reduce stress on the brakes and tires during takeoff and also ensure it could successfully take off should one engine fail. It's a common misconception that the planes refueled shortly after takeoff because the jet fuel leaked. The leaking of fuel was an intentional design feature because the high heat generated by the aircraft made it impossible to fully seal the fuselage tanks against leaks. However, the amount of fuel leaked was not enough to make the refueling necessary; the planes refueled because the maximum speeds of the aircraft were only possible with aerial refueling"

The Mig-25 could take off and proceed on its mission at maximum speed without any need for refueling or excessive fuel leaks.

Came across this on Wikipedia today, never heard of this before incident with the Mig-25:

On 29 June 1987, an SR-71 was on a mission around the Baltic Sea to spy on Soviet postings when one of the engines exploded. The aircraft, which was at 20 km altitude, quickly lost altitude and turned 180° to the left and turned over Gotland to search for the Swedish coast. Thus, Swedish airspace was violated, whereupon two armed Saab JA 37 Viggens on an exercise at the height of Västervik were ordered there. The mission was to do an incident preparedness check and identify an aircraft of high interest. It was found that the plane was in obvious distress and a decision was made that the Swedish Air Force would escort the plane out of the Baltic Sea. A second round of armed JA-37s from Ängelholm replaced the first pair and completed the escort to Danish airspace. The event had been classified for over 30 years, and when the report was unsealed, data from the NSA showed that multiple MiG-25s with the order to shoot down the SR-71 or force it to land, had started right after the engine failure. A MiG-25 had locked a missile on the damaged SR-71, but as the aircraft was under escort, no missiles were fired.

[brohanv]

This was easily one of the most captivating t-bhp threads I have come across and that's after going through a *lot* of threads on t-bhp. I have only recently realised that all that power, design and engineering most acutely confluence in the design of airplanes! Not bound by the same peripheries as motor-vehicles such as traction and money , truly incredible things have been established by them. And I only traversed down this path of curiosity because the cold war often became comparable to just two racing teams with incomparable resources knee-deep in a battle of wits. And what beauty came out of it. I can only imagine the man-hours, quest for knowledge, consumption of copious amounts of literature it would have taken for you to make this account so understandable for novices like myself. And for breaking down one of the most glorious creations of man to be understood and appreciated by everyone is something I am truly grateful for.

Thank you, good sir.


A picture of the jet that I found has been laid to rest in our own Palam IAF museum. A pilgrimage had to be made after a crazed 3am hyper fixation on the it.

[Foxbat]

Reposting from the Scale Models Aircraft thread, the two 1:72 Scale Mig-25s made by me and the crown jewels of my scale model aircraft collection:

Indian Air Force Mig-25RU "Foxbat" DS362, No.102 Squadron, also known as "Garuda".
This is a Two-seat conversion trainer for the reconnaissance variant.











Soviet Air Force Mig-25PD (advanced interceptor) and Indian Air Force Mig-25RU.

[V.Narayan]

Came across this well made balanced documentary on the MiG-25. All credits and ownership to Skyships Eng. The documentary is about 50 minutes but worth the watching. The maker of these series is a Russian. All his documentaries are balanced and based on facts -none of the bias and jingoism of a typical Western documentary on non-western aircraft. One only has to view a documentary on say the English Electric Lightning to understand the prejudice I speak of. I always knew and wrote in the opening post that the air intake design was as important as the engines in getting to a sustaining its high speeds. This documentary explains how.

Foxbat forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag9ocYPEET0

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Came across this well made balanced documentary on the MiG-25. All credits and ownership to Skyships Eng. The documentary is about 50 minutes but worth the watching. The maker of these series is a Russian. All his documentaries are balanced and based on facts -none of the bias and jingoism of a typical Western documentary on non-western aircraft. One only has to view a documentary on say the English Electric Lightning to understand the prejudice I speak of. I always knew and wrote in the opening post that the air intake design was as important as the engines in getting to a sustaining its high speeds. This documentary explains how.

Foxbat forever.

While going through the public library material on the plane in the US, I read one interesting tidbit, that Mig25 radar was so powerful, if activated on ground, it could "microwave" the nearby field inhabitants like mice and rabbits. I think the real Western experts in general, had a great respect for the Soviet aviation achievements, but the politics dominated the discourse on either side.