Say Goodbye to Russia’s Mach-3 Spy Plane

War Is Boring

Security, Europe

RIP.

In 1964, the Soviet Union’s awesome MiG-25 Foxbat jet fighter flew for the first time. Specifically designed to intercept the U.S. Air Force’s spy planes, the MiG-25 could routinely reach Mach 2.8—nearly three times the speed of sound.

Only the American SR-71 Blackbird was faster—and only slightly.

For nearly 25 years starting in the late 1960s, Foxbats sortied from Soviet bases any time an SR-71 rocketed along Soviet borders. But the longest-serving MiG-25s were the reconnaissance models—the MiG-25Rs.

These super-fast, high-flying spy planes were Russia’s answer to the SR-71. And whereas the Blackbirds finally left service in the late 1990s, the camera-equipped MiG-25Rs soldiered on until December 2013, when the single-seat jets finally became too old and too expensive to keep in the air.

America replaced the SR-71 with radar-evading spy drones. Russia seems to have abandoned the Foxbat without a direct replacement, severely impairing Moscow’s ability to keep tabs on its enemies.

Untouchable spy

Able to outrun normal air defenses during the most dangerous few minutes of a mission, the MiG-25R like the SR-71 was essentially invulnerable to the enemy.

Made largely of heat-resisting nickel steel alloy plus some titanium and fitted with two massive Tumansky turbojets together producing an incredible 45,000 pounds of thrust, the MiG-25 represented a huge advancement for the Soviets.

The Smerch-A radar on the MiG-25 interceptor could guide R-40 missiles up to 40 miles. In Soviet service, the fighter version proved a big complication for NATO war plans. Iraqi MiG-25s shot down an American F/A-18 during the 1991 Gulf War and a U.S. Predator drone in 2002.

But the recon variant arguably had the greatest effect. Most operators retired their Foxbat interceptors in the 1990s owing to their high cost and complexity and the short lifespans of their hand-built airframes and engines. But the Russia and a few other countries retained MiG-25Rs for spy flights. As late as January 2013, the Russian air force still possessed a couple dozen recon Foxbats at two bases.