Model Airplane International - June 2018

outlining the operational requirements and

the intended service entry of the new Russian

fi ghter, even before the fi rst prototype had

moved to the production line.

The development of the Ye-155 proved

laborious and demanding and not all of this

was related to the confi guration of the aircraft.

It was clear that conventional aluminium

alloys would not be able to withstand the

tremendous heat, such as the nose and

leading edges. These would be constructed

of titanium, but many other areas could

theoretically be made of riveted aluminium –

such as the wing skins – which would have

to be welded steel because no suitable heat-

resistant sealant could be found, and there

was a shortage of skilled riveters within the

Mikoyan Design Bureau. Eventually 80 per

cent of the aircraft was tempered steel, 11 per

cent of aluminium alloys and nine per cent of

titanium.

Development of the Ye-155P interceptor

was approved in February 1962, and the

prototype took to the air on September 9,

1964. The aircraft was powered by a pair of
      22,500lb Mikulin (later Tumanskii) R-15B-300
      turbojets with a life of 150 hours, and was
      fi tted with a Smertch-A radar, known to NATO
      as Fox Fire; the radar had a detection range
      of 62 miles. The aircraft carried two R-40
      air-to-air missiles, in mixed pairs or R-40R
      and R-40T semi-active radar- and IR-homing
      versions. Look-down capability was non-
      existent at the time.
      The performance was up to expectations
      and, in March 1965 – under the cover
      designation Ye-266 – an early aircraft was
      used to establish several performance
      records which were countered by Lockheed’s
      YF-12 in May 1965. Between 1965 and 1977,
      the Ye-266 and another early variant, the
      Ye-266M eventually made 21 FAI-notifi ed
      record-breaking fl ights, setting nine records
      which remained unbroken until 1994.
      Foxbat production began in 1969, but the
      aircraft did not enter full Voyenno-Vozdushnye
      Sily Rossii (VVS – Russian Air Force) service
      until 1973, having been plagued by engine
      problems. Even in service the MiG-25 was
      subject to serve operating limitations, which
      strictly constrained the amount of time that
      could be spent at very high speeds, so
      limiting the use of full engine power. The early
      models were delivered directly to the voyska
      protivovozdushnoy oborony, voyska (V-PVO

• Anti-Air Defence of the Nation/Territorial
  Defence Forces) Fighter Weapons School
  and a front-line unit near Gorkii in order to
  train pilots, ground crews and refi ne combat
  tactics. This initial delivery was effectively
  for in-service test purposes only. The aircraft
  were intensively used for missile test fi rings of
  the R-40 AAM.
  The limitations of the fi rst production
  series of the MiG-25P, (the Ye-155P-6 was
  the fi rst fully equipped model), now known
  in the West as the Foxbat A soon became
  apparent. During production of this early
  variant, the primitive radar was replaced by
  the Smerch-A2 and later the Smerch-A3. A
  typical attack profi le for the Foxbat would be
  to launch a salvo of two missiles – one an
  IR-homing R-40T, the other a semi-active

radar homing R-40R. Thus, the four missiles

carried, compared to the early variant’s two,

represented only two attacks.

A Lead Lost?

Although the MiG-25P fulfi lled most of the

design requirement with the VVS who were

extremely pleased with the aircraft, the

Foxbat’s secrets were soon to be revealed to

the West in 1976 following Lt Viktor Belenko’s

defection to Japan in his Foxbat A.

After the catastrophic loss of this aircraft,

the decision was made to develop a new

variant. A government directive was issued

on November 4, 1976. The MiG-25PD –

Dorabotannii – modifi ed – Foxbat E entered

service in 1979 and proved to be a far more

capable variant than its predecessor. The

most signifi cant upgrade was the introduction

of the Sapfi r-25 radar.

Based on the Sapfi r-23 developed for the

MiG-23, the Sapfi r-25 was a pulse-Doppler

radar with a genuine look-down, shoot-down

capability and slightly improved detection

range of about 71 miles. The new radar was

introduced along with a TP-26Sh-1 infra-red

search-and-track (IRST) system which could

acquire targets autonomously out to a range

of 28 miles.

The R-40R and R-40T missiles were

equipped with improved seeker heads.

For greater fl exibility, the MiG-25PD could

carry four R-60 (AA-8 Aphid) missiles for

‘dogfi ghting’. Along with the improvement in

avionics the MiG-25PD introduced the new

RB15BD-300 engine. Externally the MiG-

25PD differed from earlier models by having a

modest fuselage stretch ahead of the cockpit

to accommodate the new radar set. MiG-

25PD production continued in 1982, although

some aircraft planned for that year did not

leave the production line until late 1983.

Photo Foxbats

Whilst most of the West’s attention was

focussed on the interceptor variants

of the MiG-25, it has proved to be the

reconnaissance MiG-25, known in the West

as Foxbat Bs, that were operationally the

most successful. This led to a total of more

than 12 sub-types and one-off experimental

confi gurations produced.

MiG-25Rs began rolling off the production

line in 1969 and entered service with the

VVS soon afterwards. Front-line units tended

to have just one squadron of MiG-25Rs for

high-level, clear-weather, day reconnaissance

sorties. Pilot training proved to be a problem

however, and hasty changes were made to

the training procedures to avert any accidents

while fl ying at high altitudes. Successive

improvements were incorporated into the

MiG-25Rs, resulting in many aircraft being

upgraded to MiG-25RB standard.

Mach Three Bombers

The MiG-25RB entered service in December

1970 and its development occurred following

a request from Egypt which asked for the

MiG-25R to be adapted high-level bombing

missions. Carrying bombs on the mach 3

Foxbat was not straightforward. But the

design of heat-resistant coated bombs

The third prototype Ye-155 makes a fl ypast at Domodedovo

air display on July 9, 1967. This was the MiG-25’s fi rst public

appearance.

One of the fi rst NATO images of a Foxbat E released to the

media. Mounted under the nose is a highly sensitive infrared

sensor, whilst its radar systems had a limited lookdown,

shoot-down capability. The AA-6 Acrid missiles are the largest

production AAMs, with a length of more than 20 feet.

A clandestine image of a reconnaissance MiG-25 illustrating the

camera windows on the underside of the nose. Western analysts

spent hours pouring over such images in an effort to expose the

secrets of the Foxbat.

The MiG-25PD was capable of carrying four AA-6 Acrid radar-

or infra-red guided AAMs.

A MiG-25RBK Foxbat D gets airborne followed by a camera-

equipped MiG-25RB Foxbat B. The MiG-25RBK has a large

dielectric panel on each side of the nose serving a SLAR, and

had no under-nose camera windows.

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