HASEGAWA 1/72-SCALE MIKOYAN MIG-25 FOXBAT SOVIET AF COLD WAR
INTERCEPTOR KIT BELENKO
OPEN
BOX UNBUILT PLASTIC MODEL KIT – INVENTORIED 100% COMPLETE. Includes Original
Instructions and Decals.
IF YOU
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS PLEASE ASK ME BEFORE BIDDING / PURCHASING – I
WANT EVERYONE TO BE 100% SATISFIED WITH NO SURPRISES OR MIS-UNDERSTANDINGS
***IF
YOU DESIRE TO PURCHASE MULTIPLE KITS AT THE SAME TIME – I WILL COMBINE INTO A
SINGLE SHIPMENT AND ADJUST THE INVOICE TO REFLECT THE MOST ECONOMICAL POSTAGE
CHARGE FOR ALL ITEMS SHIPPED TOGETHER***
--------------------------------------------
Additional
Information from Internet Encyclopedia
The Mikoyan-Gurevich
MiG-25 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич
МиГ-25) (NATO reporting
name: Foxbat) is a supersonic
interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that was among the fastest military
aircraft to enter service. It was designed by the Soviet Union's
Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau. The first prototype flew in 1964 and the aircraft
entered service in 1970. It has a top speed of Mach 2.83 (Mach 3.2 is
possible but at risk of significant damage to the engines), and features a
powerful radar and four air-to-air missiles.
When first seen in reconnaissance photography, the
large wing planform suggested an enormous and highly maneuverable fighter, at a
time when U.S. design theories were also evolving towards higher
maneuverability due to combat performance in the Vietnam War. The appearance of
the MiG-25 sparked serious concern in the West and prompted dramatic increases
in performance for the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle then under development in
late 1960s. The capabilities of the MiG-25 were better understood in 1976 when
Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko defected in a MiG-25 to the United States via
Japan. It turned out that the aircraft's weight necessitated its large wings.
Production of the MiG-25 series ended in 1984
after completion of 1,190 aircraft. A symbol of the Cold War, the MiG-25 flew
with Soviet allies and former Soviet republics, remaining in limited service in
Russia and several other nations. It is one of the highest-flying military
aircraft, and the second fastest after the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft
Work on the new Soviet interceptor that became the
MiG-25 started in mid-1959, a year before Soviet intelligence learned of the
American Mach 3 A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. It is not clear if the design was
influenced by the American A-5 Vigilante.
The design bureau studied several possible layouts
for the new aircraft. One had the engines located side-by-side, as on the
MiG-19. The second had a stepped arrangement with one engine amidships, with
exhaust under the fuselage, and another in the aft fuselage. The third project
had an engine arrangement similar to that of the English Electric Lightning,
with two engines stacked vertically. Option two and three were both rejected
because the size of the engines meant any of them would result in a very tall
aircraft which would complicate maintenance.
The idea of placing the engines in underwing
nacelles was also rejected because of the dangers of any thrust asymmetry
during flight. Having decided on engine configuration, there was thought of
giving the machine variable-sweep wings and a second crew member, a navigator.
Variable geometry would improve maneuverability at subsonic speed, but at the
cost of decreased fuel tank capacity. Because the reconnaissance aircraft would
operate at high speed and high altitude the idea was soon dropped. Another
interesting but impractical idea was to improve the field performance using two
RD36-35 lift-jets. Vertical takeoff and landing would allow for use of damaged
runways during wartime and was studied on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The
perennial problem with engines dedicated to vertical lift is they become mere
deadweight in horizontal flight, and also occupy space in the airframe needed
for fuel. The MiG interceptor would need all the fuel it could get, so the idea
was abandoned.
The first prototype was a reconnaissance variant,
designated "Ye-155-R1", that made its first flight on 6 March 1964.
It had some characteristics that were unique to that prototype, and some of
these were visually very evident: the wings had fixed wingtip tanks (600 litre
capacity) to which small winglets were attached for stability purposes, but
when it was found that fuel sloshing around in the tanks caused vibrations they
were eliminated. The aircraft also had attachments for movable foreplanes,
canards, to help with pitch control at high speed (provisions for canards had
previously been installed, but not used, on the Ye-152P.)
The first flight of the interceptor prototype,
"Ye-155-P1", took place on 9 September 1964. Development of the
MiG-25, which represented a major step forward in Soviet aerodynamics,
engineering and metallurgy, took several more years to complete.
On 9 July 1967, the new aircraft was first shown
to the public at the Domodedovo air show, with four prototypes (three fighters
and a reconnaissance aircraft) making a flypast.
Because of the thermal stresses incurred in flight
above Mach 2, the Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB had difficulties choosing what materials
to use for the aircraft. They had to use E-2 heat-resistant Plexiglas for the
canopy, and high-strength stainless steel for the wings and fuselage. Using
titanium rather than steel would have been ideal, but it was expensive and
difficult to work with. The problem of cracks in welded titanium structures
with thin walls could not be solved, so the heavier nickel steel was used
instead. It cost far less than titanium and allowed for welding, along with
heat resistant seals. The MiG-25 was constructed from 80% nickel steel alloy,
11% aluminium, and 9% titanium. The steel components were formed by a
combination of spot-welding, automatic machine welding and hand arc welding
methods.
Initially, the interceptor version was equipped
with the TL-25 Smerch-A (also
referred to as Product 720)
radar, a development of the system carried by the earlier Tu-128. While
powerful, and thus long-ranged and resistant to jamming, the system – due to
the age of its design and its intended purpose (tracking and targeting high-
and fast-flying US bombers and reconnaissance aircraft), lacked
Look-down/shoot-down capability, which limited its effectiveness against
low-flying targets (this is one of the reasons why it was replaced with the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31, whose Zaslon radar has that capability). By the time
the MiG-25 entered service in 1969, this was a serious shortcoming, as
strategic bombing doctrine was shifting towards low-level penetration of enemy
territory. After Belenko's defection to Japan exposed this flaw to the West, a
government decree issued on November 4, 1976 called for urgent development of a
more advanced radar. This resulted in the pulse-Doppler radar Sapphire-25 system fitted to the
MiG-25PD variant.
Automatic control system SAU 155П1 (interceptor)
or SAU 155Р1 (scout): navigation system «Peleng-D (ETC, DM)»; heat radar 26Ш-1;
radio guidance system «Lazur» (for interceptor); direction finder ARC-10;
altimeter great heights RV-18 (RV-19); SPO Sirena-3M» or LO 06 «Birch»; control
system air intake СРВМу-2A; system range radionavigation RSBN-6C «coral»;
marker radio MCI-56П; intercom SPU-7; the Respondent CO-63B; system of air
signals SVS-MO-5; voice informer RI-65; voice recorder MS-61 and others On late
production was installed SEC «rainbow».
All interceptors installed «Polet-1I,» consisting
of the electronic systems of navigation and landing, курсовертикали, air
signals and systems of the automatic flight control. The spies were
established: photographic equipment And 70 or A-72 station Electronic
intelligence Cube-3M», «Sabre» Side looking airborne radar, the station of
signals intelligence «Virazh» or «Pitch».
Armament interceptor includes four supersonic
(M>5) UR great range R-40T (R-40TD) air-to-air missiles with thermal homing
head and P-40P (R-40RD) with semi-active radar guidance system (maximum launch
range, on altitudinal goal on a collision course – 35–60 km). Under the
fuselage can suspended fuel tank. The aircraft could carry unguided gravity
bombs in a rudimentary strike capability. As the bombs would weigh no more and
incur no more drag than its regular load of R-40 missiles, its performance was
not impaired, leading to some impressive bombing feats; when released at an
altitude of 20,000m (66,000 ft) and a speed above Mach 2, a 500 kg
bomb would have a glide range of several tens of kilometres.
The MiG-25 was theoretically capable of a maximum
speed of Mach 3+ and a ceiling of 90,000 ft (27,000 m). Its high speed was
problematic: although sufficient thrust was available to reach Mach 3.2, a
limit of Mach 2.83 had to be imposed as the turbines tended to overspeed and
overheat at higher speeds, possibly damaging them beyond repair.
The unarmed 'B' version had greater impact than
the interceptor when the USSR sent two MiG-25R, and two MiG-25RB to Egypt in
March 1971 and stayed until July 1972. They were operated by the Soviet 63rd
Independent Air Detachment (Det 63) set up specially for this mission. Det 63
flew over Israeli held territory in Sinai on reconnaissance missions roughly 20
times. The flights were in pairs at maximum speed and high altitude (between
17,000–23,000 m).
On 6 November 1971, an Egyptian MiG-25 flying at
Mach 2.5 was met by Israeli F-4Es and fired upon unsuccessfully. A MiG-25 was
tracked flying over Sinai at Mach 3.2 during this period. The MiG-25 engines
went into overspeed, which led to them being scrapped. Unit Det 63 was sent
back home in 1972, though reconnaissance Foxbats were sent back to Egypt in
19–20 October 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. Unit Det 154 remained there until
late 1974.
On 13 February 1981, the Israeli Air Force sent
two RF-4Es over Lebanon as decoys for Syrian MiG-25 interceptors. As the MiGs
scrambled, the RF-4Es turned back delivering chaff and using ECM pods. Two
IDF/AF F-15As were waiting for the MiGs and shot one of them down with AIM-7F
missiles. The other MiG was able to escape. In a similar engagement, on 29 July
1981, a Syrian MiG-25 was again downed by an Israeli F-15A, after which a
second MiG-25 launched its R-40 missiles at the F-15 and its wingman, but they
missed. However, other sources say the missiles hit and downed one of the
F-15s. On 31 August 1982, a third Syrian MiG-25 was damaged by an Israeli Hawk
SAM and then destroyed by an F-15.
During the 1970s, the Soviet air force conducted
reconnaissance overflights across Iran using its MiG-25RBSh aircraft in
response to joint US-Iran recon operations.
The Swedish Air Force observed via radar a Soviet
Air Defense MiG-25 at 63,000 ft trailed 2.9 km behind the Lockheed
SR-71 Blackbird at 72,000 ft over the Baltic Sea in the 1980s.
The MiG-25 was in service with the Iraqi Air Force
during the Iran–Iraq War. On 19 March 1982 an Iranian F-4E was badly damaged by
missile fired by an Iraqi MiG-25. Iraqi MiG-25s made another kill against Iran
in February 1983, when an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian C-130. On April
1984, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian F-5E. On 21 March 1984, an Iraqi
MiG-25PD shot down an Iranian F-4E and on 5 June 1985 an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot
down a second Iranian F-4E. On 23 February 1986, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an
Iranian EC-130E and on 10 June an RF-4E, later in October 1986, an Iraqi
MiG-25PDS shot down a second RF-4E.
The most successful Iraqi MiG-25 pilot of the war
was Colonel Mohammed Rayyan, who was credited with 10 kills. Eight of these
were while flying the MiG-25P from 1981 to 1986. In 1986, after attaining the
rank of Colonel, Rayyan was shot down and killed by Iranian F-14s. For the
majority of the air combat Iraqi pilots used R-40 missiles.
On 3 May 1981, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down an Algerian
Gulfstream III. On 2 October 1986, an Iraqi MiG-25PD shot down a Syrian
MiG-21RF.
According to research by journalist Tom Cooper, at
least 10 MiG-25s (9 reconnaissance and 1 fighter) may have been shot down by
Iranian F-14s (one of them shared with an F-5) during the Iran-Iraq war. Only
three MiG-25 losses (to ground fire and air combat) were confirmed by Iraq.
During the Persian Gulf War, a US Navy F/A-18,
piloted by Lt Cdr Scott Speicher, was shot down on the first night of the war
by a missile fired by a MiG-25. The kill was reportedly made with a Bisnovat
R-40TD missile fired from a MiG-25PDS flown by Lt. Zuhair Dawood of the 84th
squadron of the IQAF.
Two IQAF MiG-25s were shot down by U.S. Air Force
F-15s on January 19. The MiGs attempted to hide from the F-15s by using chaff
and electronic jammers in order to engage the F-15s undetected. However the
F-15 pilots were able to reacquire the two Iraqi MiG-25s and shot both down
with AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. In another incident, an Iraqi MiG-25PD, after
eluding eight USAF F-15s at long range, fired three missiles at General
Dynamics EF-111A Raven electronic warfare aircraft, forcing them to abort their
mission and leave attacking aircraft without electronic jamming support.
In a different incident, two MiG-25s approached a
pair of F-15s, fired missiles at long range which were evaded by the F-15s, and
then outran the American fighters. Two more F-15s joined the pursuit, and a
total of 10 air-to-air missiles were fired at the MiG-25s, though none reached
them. According to the same sources, at least one F-111 was also forced to
abort its mission by a MiG-25 on the first 24 hours of hostilities, during an
air raid over Tikrit.
After the war, on 27 December 1992, a U.S. F-16D
downed a MiG-25 that violated the no-fly zone in southern Iraq with an AIM-120
AMRAAM missile. It was the first USAF F-16 air-to-air victory and the first
AMRAAM kill.
On 23 December 2002, an Iraqi MiG-25 shot down a
U.S. Air Force unmanned MQ-1 Predator drone, which was performing armed
reconnaissance over Iraq. This was the first time in history that an aircraft
and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat. Predators had been armed with
AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles, and were being used to "bait"
Iraqi fighter aircraft, then run. In this incident, the Predator did not run,
but instead fired one of the Stingers, which missed, while the MiG's missile
did not.
No Iraqi aircraft were deployed in the U.S.
invasion of Iraq in 2003, with most Iraqi aircraft being hidden or destroyed on
the ground. In August 2003, several dozen Iraqi aircraft were discovered buried
in the sand.
The MiG-25 was kept a guarded secret in India, and
was nicknamed "Garuda", after the large mythical bird-like creature
from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. It was used extensively in the Kargil War
and Operation Parakram, conducting aerial reconnaissance sorties over Pakistan.
In May 1997, an Indian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-25RB
reconnaissance aircraft created a furor when the pilot flew faster than Mach 2
over Pakistani territory following a reconnaissance mission into Pakistan
airspace. The MiG-25 broke the sound barrier while flying at an altitude of around
65,000 feet (20,000 m), otherwise the mission would have remained covert,
at least to the general public. The Pakistan Government considered the breaking
of the sound barrier was deliberate to make the point that the Pakistan Air
Force (PAF) had no aircraft in its inventory which can come close to the
MiG-25's cruising altitude (up to 74,000 feet (23,000 m)). India denied
the incident but Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Gohar Ayub Khan, believed that
the Foxbat photographed strategic installations near the capital, Islamabad.
Lack of spare parts and India's acquiring of
unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite imagery eventually led to its retirement
in 2006.
