This Soviet Interceptor Made its Debut Penetrating Israeli Air Defences: Egypt-Based MiG-25s Were Effectively Invulnerable

During the Cold War the Soviet Air Force made limited overseas deployments to support allied states against a range of threats from the Western Bloc and Western aligned state and non-state actors, with notable examples including the opening of a military base in Vietnam’s&nbsp;Cam Ranh in 1979, and the initiation of operations alongside the Afghan Armed Forces to suppress Western backed Islamist insurgents early the following decade. One of the most significant theatres of operations for Soviet military aviation, however, was the Middle East, where Soviet units provided considerable support to Egypt and Syria in their protracted conflict with Western aligned Israel. While North Korea and Pakistan provided pilots for Egyptian and Syrian MiG-21 fighter units, the Soviet Air Force deployed its own aircraft including not only MiG-21s, but also a much less well known class of aircraft which when first seen caused considerable concern across the Western Bloc. The MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor joined the Soviet Air Defence Forces in 1970, and was over four times as large as the MiG-21 and technologically a full generation ahead. Its capabilities would cause considerable complications for Western and allied military planning for much of the remainder of the Cold War.&nbsp;<img src=" title="MiG-25 Prototype Ye-155P">The Soviet Air Force made its first overseas deployment of MiG-25s in March 1971, when four of the aircraft were deployed to Egypt under the 63rd Independent Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron (63rd ORAE), and put under the command of Col Alexander S. Bezhevets. Although the large majority of MiG-25s were built for beyond visual range air to air combat, the aircraft deployed to Egypt were configured for reconnaissance. This included the integration of A-72, A-87 and A-10-10 cameras with respective focal lengths of 150, 650 and 1300rnm, enabling photographs to be taken from altitudes up to 22km – well above the Armstrong limit in near space. This was possible due to the MiG-25’s extreme altitude ceiling, allowing the aircraft to operate at altitudes of close to 40 kilometres.&nbsp;The Foxbat’s unrivalled altitude was paired with an extreme Mach 3.2 speed, which made the aircraft close to invulnerable at the time other than when conducting its takeoff and landing sequences.&nbsp;<img src=" title="MiG-25R Reconnaissance Configuration ">Foxbats were protected every time they conducted a takeoff or landing by an escort of Soviet flown MiG-21s, which were stationed in Egypt under the 135th Fighter Aviation Regiment based at Bani Suweif. The highly sensitive nature of the MiG-25s meant Soviet ground troops were deployed to protect them and no Egyptian personnel were permitted to inspect them. Special T-6 fuel for the aircraft developed to reduce flammability at high temperatures was transferred to Egypt by tanker, and underground hardened aircraft shelters were specially constructed to protect the aircraft from missile air or missile attacks. The Foxbats flew their first operations above the Nile Delta and unpopulated areas south of El Alamein, with all flights undertaken in total radio silence by pairs of aircraft. Although the MIG-25 was officially in service at the time, the aircaft still benefited from fine tuning based on the experience from these overseas operations.&nbsp;<img src=" title="MiG-25 Foxbats on Runway">Seven months after the Foxbats reached Egypt operations close to Israeli controlled airspace were sanctioned, with a pair of MiG-25s on October 10 making an approach the coast of northern Israel at an altitude of between 23 and 24km at Mach 2.5 speeds. The aircraft flew along almost the entire Israel-Sinai coastline from Acre down to the Suez Canal, causing alerts across all Israeli air bases. Israel at the time fielded the most capable anti aircraft assets available anywhere in the Western world, including F-4E Phantom fighters, AIM-7 Sparrow air to air missiles and MIM-23 Hawk air defence systems all supplied by the United States. The fact that none of these could seriously threaten the MiG-25 was demonstrated repeatedly over the following months, causing considerable concern across the Western world. The airspace of the Israeli held Sinai Peninsula was at the time as well defended as the best fortified parts of the Western European frontlines facing Soviet forces, meaning if MiG-25s could overfly Israeli held territory with impunity the much larger fleets in the Soviet inventory could likely do the same into NATO territory.&nbsp;<img src=" title="Israeli Air Force F-4E Phantom Fighter">Foxbats made a second flight into Israeli held territory on November 6, 1971, when they took a southeast course across the Sinai Peninsula from the eastern end of Lake Bardavil to Ras Al Sudr in the Gulf of Suez, which they were able to cross in under two minutes. From December two flights over Sinai were undertaken every month until the mission, providing valuable information on Israeli positions while also making a strong show of force to Israeli and the Western Bloc. These culminated on March 10, 1972, in a flight across almost the entire length of the Sinai Peninsula on a north-south axis. Multiple Israeli attempts to intercept the aircraft using F-4E fighters notably failed, with the discrepancy in speed and altitude being far too great for successful targeting.&nbsp; On May 16, 1972 Foxbats flew across the entire length Israeli positions along the eastern side of the Suez Canal and down the coast to Sharm El Sheikh, with an Israel attempt to intercept the aircraft using four F-4E fighters notably failing despite the firing of AIM-7E missiles at the Soviet jets. The MiG-25’s apparent invulnerability fuelled escalated American efforts to develop a viable fighter capable of going up against it, resulting in major revisions to the performance requirements of the F-4’s successor which would enter service in 1975 as the F-15. It also fuelled efforts to field a more capable class of air to air missile for existing and future fighters, with Project Distant Thunder initiated to this end but ultimately falling short of success.&nbsp;<img src=" title="MiG-25R Foxbat">The MiG-25 would remain a major thorn in the side of Western Bloc and Israeli objectives over the next two decades, and while the Soviet Union developed much more capable combat aircraft under the MiG-31 and Su-27 programs, neither of these were exported during the Cold War while Foxbats <a href=" target="_blank">from 1978 actively were</a>. Although the Foxbat was a third generation interceptor, it proved more than capable of going head to head with America’s top fourth generation fighters on multiple occasions. Its first such encounter occurred on February 15, 1982, when an Iraqi Air Force MiG-25 went head to head with an Iranian Air Force F-14 – a successor to the F-4 with even higher end beyond visual range capabilities than the F-15. The MiG-25’s R-40 missile hit and damaged the Iranian F-14 it faced, but failed to bring it down, while the F-14’s AIM-54 missile similarly damaged its adversary but insufficiently to claim a kill, meaning the engagement was tied between the two aircraft. Algerian Air Force MiG-25 patrols would later that decade play a central role in <a href=" target="_blank">deterring planned Israeli strikes </a>on its territory using F-15 fighters, while Indian MiG-25s repeatedly <a href=" target="_blank">proved entirely invulnerable</a> against Pakistani F-16s when flying reconnaissance missions deep into the country’s airspace even at relatively low speeds.&nbsp;

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