Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25

Overview

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is an aircraft built primarily using stainless steel. It was to be the last aircraft designed by Mikhail Gurevich, before his retirement. The first prototype flew in 1964 and the aircraft entered service in 1970. Although it was capable of reaching Mach 3.2+, this would result in the engines accelerating out of control and needing replacement, therefore the operational top speed was limited to Mach 2.83. The MiG-25 features a powerful radar and four air-to-air missiles, and it still has the world record for reached altitude by airbreathing piloted aircraft of 38 km (125,000 ft). Production of the MiG-25 series ended in 1984 after completion of 1,186 aircraft. A symbol of the Cold War, the MiG-25 flew with Soviet allies and former Soviet republics, remaining in limited service in several export customers. It is one of the highest-flying military aircraft, one of the fastest serially produced interceptor aircraft, and the second-fastest serially produced aircraft after the SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft, which was built in very small numbers compared to the MiG-25. As of 2018, the MiG-25 remained the fastest manned serially produced aircraft in operational use and the fastest plane that was offered for supersonic flights and edge-of-space flights to civilian customers.