Overview
- The defection occurred on Sept. 6, 1976 when Senior Lieutenant Viktor Belenko flew a MiG-25 to Hakodate, Japan, requested asylum, and allowed Japanese and U.S. experts to seize and study the aircraft.
- Analysts dismantled the Foxbat and found it was built largely from nickel steel, used vacuum-tube electronics, and prioritized raw speed and altitude over maneuverability, which revised Western estimates of its true performance.
- Technical study showed the MiG-25’s engines and airframe could reach very high speed but had practical limits near Mach 2.8, a finding that tempered earlier fears that it matched or exceeded platforms like the SR-71.
- The type saw limited combat successes and losses, including an Iraqi pilot’s 1991 claim of downing a U.S. F/A-18 and multiple shootdowns by Israeli and U.S. F-15s in the 1980s and early 1990s.
- About 1,186 MiG-25s were built, most have been retired or destroyed with Algeria retiring theirs in 2022 and Syria losing its fleet by 2024, and roughly 15 airframes survive in museums including the U.S. example at Wright-Patterson AFB.