Yet even before its public appearance in Moscow, the MiG-25 had been a grave concern for Western analysts.
Indeed, this new interceptor could fly at speeds in excess of Mach 3 and cruise at altitudes heretofore deemed unreachable for a tactical fighter.
Moreover, NATO’s intelligence community was baffled by how the Soviet Union had cobbled together such a "masterpiece"
of modern engineering.
The reality, however, was that this "interceptor" was a poorly-designed airframe with an oversized motor.
Although it excelled as a reconnaissance aircraft, it fared poorly as a dogfighter – and it was typically the loser when pitted against Western aircraft like the F-14 Tomcat and F-15 Eagle.
From the Sinai Peninsula…to the Soviet-Afghan War…to Operation Desert Storm, Foxbat Tales is the definitive operational and combat history of the MiG-25.
134 pages.