This Jet Terrified the West: The MiG-25 Foxbat

In the late 1950s, Soviet intelligence learned that the Americans were developing a new state-of the art supersonic bomber that could render the entire Soviet Air Force and air defense system virtually obsolete. The nuclear-armed North American XB-70 Valkyrie would fly more than three times the speed of sound and at an altitude of 75,000 feet. Only a handful of the XB-70’s would be needed to overwhelm any target.

The Soviets would have just a few short years to respond to the threat by designing a new interceptor that could match the incredible performance of America’s XB-70 aircraft. But to guard the enormous air space of the Soviet Union, the interceptor would have to be quickly engineered and mass produced by the hundreds.

The result would be the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, an interceptor engineered to do one thing; climb, catch and bring down the American bomber. But the aircraft would end up as one of the most misunderstood jets of the Cold War.

Thanks for watching!

[PrivateMemo]

These illustrating animations are getting better and better.

[rankoorovic]

The MIG 25 was an interceptor built to chase nuclear bombers during a nuclear war not to dogfight fighter planes. It was built to get high fast and had vacuum tubes instead off microchips because tubes can resist and EMP from a nuclear explosion.
It was a doomsday fighter.

[chrisparkes]

I’m still staggered by the sheer size of this aircraft. It is ENORMOUS.

[josejosefino]

The Foxbat and the Eagle are perfect examples of why a good intelligence agency is a must for any country.

[ryanhelmeid]

Fun fact: the Japanese government billed the Soviet Union $40, 000 for the shipping fees and airfield damage when negotiating the return of the plane

[damonstr]

In the words of the timeless Discovery Wings on the MiG-25:
“The design of the MiG-25 was directed entirely at achieving high speed and high altitude. It was not meant to be maneuverable. It was not meant to have good low speed performance. It was simply meant to travel through the air as fast as Soviet ingenuity could make it go.”

[gibusspy]

The US assumed the MiG-25 was meant for dogfighting, while in reality it was meant to hunt high-altitude bombers that never even were.

[ValhallaBeckons]

The Valkyririe was a mastyery of engineering. The Foxbat was the the monstrous counterpart. Those engines. That payload. What an achievement. Phenomenal engineering.

[flightstatic]

If someone said this was a IMAX documentary with a massive budget, I would totally believe them, this is awesome

[inkedseahear]

US: plans to build the Valkyrie
Soviet: builds incredible numbers of single-purpose high-performence Interceptors
US: cancels the Valkyrie
Soviet: you moth....

[Tcb]

Having grown up when the Foxbat was still a mystery and could only be seen in one or two grainy photographs this plane still gives me goosebumps 😳

[GregoryShtevensh]

As a Mig 25 myself, I appreciate this shout out

[mathewhumvee]

Soviet-era brute force approach to everything is incredible to think about. Everything they did was brutal, overbuilt, and designed to be made quickly, cheaply, and easily maintained or replaced. I remember reading a story of American pilots in shock at a Russian airforce base, as they saw worked uses sled hammers to beat the ice off the fighter jet wings. The Russian pilots then jumped in and took off as if nothing happened.

[valentinhristov]

I was lucky to sit in one of these planes wen I was 5-6 years old, there was 3 of these in my hometown air base back in the day… you guys cannot understand from this video how large that plane is, a grown man can walk straight into the intake of the engine.great video man, thank u

[MegaAli]

Never the less, it was a beautiful jet, a masterpiece of ingenuity.

[DodderingOldMan]

When I was a kid, I had a book of fighter jets. It wasn't a kid's book, it was really quite a dry listing of a few technical details for each plane, accompanied by a small photo. I became truly obsessed with the Foxbat, simply because of all the planes in the book, it had the highest listed top speed. Nevertheless, just because of that, and the small, blurry photo, I still remember it clearly, well over 3 decades later.

[robwebnoid]

I actually have the plastic scale model kit of the MiG-25, bought around 1980 & put together in that same time frame & I still have it to this day. I don't remember the kit maker brand, I might have to research that since I probably don't have the kit box of it anymore. I have a few other jet fighter scale kits, including the F-104 Starfighter & F-4 Phantom, again all of these built back then 4 decades ago, including having kept the cardboard kit boxes but I think I probably don't have the box for the MiG, I would have to look around in my closets.

[khelifimohamedzakaria]

Algeria retired its fleet of mig 25s last year after an airshow over the capital city. They were mostly used as recon and reportedly penetreted Morocco's air space repeatedly during the 70s and 80s

[Seriouslyfunny]

Being an engineer myself, I can only imagine the anguish of the Soviet engineers and scientists when they would have realized that their years of calculations and iterations were compromised by a defector o.O

[ZC.Andrew]

123k feet of elevation for air-breathing engines is an INCREDIBLE feat, even today. I don't think most people even understand how astonishing this is.