I got information on the Mig-25
Unquestionably the most impressive military aircraft to appear from the Soviet Union in 1967, the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-25 "Foxbat" a reconnaisance aircraft equipped with powerful cameras and sensors was unique in combining spectacular speed (Mach 3) and climb performance with simplicity and ruggedness.
One of Soviet Russia's most prized and secret weapons, it was the one plane most feared in the West. In 1973, US. Air Force Secretary Robert C. Seamans deemed the Mig-25 as "Probably the best interceptor in production in the world today". In 1967 a stripped down Mig-25 set a world record by achieving a speed of 1,852 MPH and another aircraft set the altitude record by soaring to 118,898 feet. It became almost a Third World status-symbol back in seventies and eighties. It was replaced in the Soviet Union by the similar MiG-31. .
During the cold War the Russians were highly concerned about the United State's XB-70 supersonic bomber project. In response, they built the Mig-25 which was designed to be a Mach 2.8 Interceptor for countering air targets in all weather conditions, by day and by night and in dense hostile electronic warfare environments. This was the USSR's answer to the design in the US of fast, high flying aircraft as the XB-70, North American F-108 and Lockheed SR-71.
The MiG-25 lacked technological refinement, but its performance caused much concern in the west. It was designed to function both as a long- range interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft. The center fuselage is a big, welded steel fuel tank, so avionics, radar or cameras are in the nose. Speed is limited to Mach 2.83 mainly by controllability problems. The MiG-25 is a twin-finned high-wing monoplane with slightly swept wings and a variable angle tail plane. To improve the aircraft's longitudinal stability and to avert stall at steep angles and subsonic speed, there are two shallow upper surface fences on each wing. The high-wing monoplane configuration together with lateral air intakes both have the effect of reducing the loss of aerodynamic efficiency resulting from wing-fuselage interference.
The aircraft is powered by two 11200kg Tumansky R-15D-300 single shaft turbojets, arranged in the tail section of the fuselage. The engines develop 11,200 kgf of thrust with fully selected afterburner. The engines provide a maximum speed of 3,000 km/hour at high altitude. The maximum speed at low altitude is 1,200 km/hour. The aircraft has a service ceiling of 22,500 meters. The range at altitudes between 9 and 11 km with speed of Mach 0.85 is 1,950 km. At higher altitudes between20 and 21 km and speed Mach 2.35, the range is 1,650 km. The maximum in-service g-load is 4.5g's.
There are two-seat trainer versions of both the fighter and the reconnaissance version. Production of the fighter ended in 1983. The MiG-25 saw combat in several wars in the Middle East. Over 1200 have been built, of which about 75% were interceptors. The MiG-25 was produced by MAPO-MiG, the Moscow Aircraft Production Organisation MiG, which is based in Moscow and the Sokol Aircraft Manufacturing Plant Joint Stock Company at Nizhni Novgorod in Russia.
Lt. Viktor Belenko's defection to the West gave the United States the opportunity to closely examine the Mig-25. The aircraft was completely dismantled and then carefully inspected by aviation scientists and engineers from both Japan and the United States. Upon dismantling the Mig-25, the data was analyzed by the Foreign Technology Division of the Air Force at Dayton, Ohio.
"My God! Look what this thing is made of! Why, the dumb bastards don't have transistors; they're still using vacuum tubes! These engines are monsters! Maybe the Sovs have a separate refinery for each plane! Jesus! See these rivet heads sticking out, and look at that welding! They did it by hand! Hell, the pilot can't see a thing unless it's practically in front of him! This contraption isn't an airplane; it's a rocket! Hey, see what they've done here! How clever! They were able to use aluminum! Why didn't we ever think of that? How ingenious! It's brilliant!"--- MiG Pilot : The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko
There were many surprises:
--The Mig had been manufactured in February 1976 and thus was one of their latest most sophisticated production aircraft.
--Transistor circuitry was not used but instead the Soviets relied on high tech vacuum tubes for most of their electronics.
--Welding was done by hand.
--Rivet heads were exposed in areas not critical to parasitic aerodynamic drag. Pilot forward vision was highly obstructed.
--With huge Tumansky R-15D-300 engines the Mig was considered almost a rocket.
--Pilots were forbidden to exceed Mach 2.5. There was a total of three engine instruments and the airspeed indicator was redlined at 2.8 Mach.
--Above Mach 2.8 the engines would overheat and burn up. The Americans had clocked a Mig-25 over Israel at Mach 3.2 in 1973. Upon landing in Egypt, the engines were totally destroyed. The Americans did not understand that the engine destruction was inevitable.
--The combat radius is 186 miles.
--Without using afterburner; staying at optimum altitude and not maneuvering, the Mig can fly in a straight line for 744 miles.
--The plane was so heavy, at 64,200 pounds, that Soviet designers had to eliminate a pilot ejection system. Maximum operational altitude: Carrying two missiles, 78,740 feet (for maximum two minutes duration); carrying four missiles, 68,900 feet is maximum.
--Maximum altitude of missiles: 88,588 feet.
--Ability to intercept an SR-71: Belenko states the Mig-25 cannot intercept the SR-71 for several reasons: The SR-71 fly too high and too fast; the Mig cannot reach it or catch it. The missiles lack the velocity to overtake the SR-71 and in the event of a head on missile fire (The Golden BB), the Guidance system cannot adjust to the high closure rate of the SR-71.
--The Mig-25 has a jam proof radar but cannot distinguish targets below 1,640 feet due to ground clutter. The radar was so powerful it could burn through jamming signals by approaching bombers.
--Maximum G load: With full fuel tanks 2.2 G's is max; with near empty fuel tanks, 5 G's is dangerous. The Mig-25 cannot turn inside a U.S. F-4 Phantom fighter!
--The plane was made of steel alloy, not high temperature titanium, although strips of titanium was used in areas of high heat concentration.
--In a tight turn the missiles could be ripped from the wings.
--The Mig-25 was was not a fighter or an air superiority aircraft but rather designed by the Soviets to climb at tremendous speeds, fire missiles at one pass of the target and then land.
--Search and tracking radar had a range of 55.9 miles.
--The pilot duties were to take off, turn on the auto pilot and await instructions to fire the missiles from ground controllers. The Mig-25 had a superb auto pilot and digital communications from an onboard computer to ground controllers.
--Credit is given to the Soviets for building a high altitude Interceptor in a short period of time with the materials and engines available to them in 1967 in order to counter the perceived threat of the XB-70.
On November 12, 1976, sixty-seven days after the defection of Belenko and his Mig-25 to the West, the United States and Japan returned the Mig-25 to Russia...in dismantled pieces
Anybody remember that guy from Austrailia I got into the argument with when he said the Mig-25 could out maneuver an F-15?