Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB was tasked in March 1961 to design and develop a Mach 3 interceptor in anticipation of the Americans developing a Strategic bomber of similar speeds. The change of emphasis from nuclear bombs to nuclear missiles lead to the abandonment of US projects like the XB-70 Valkyrie to develop a Mach 3 bomber but development of the MiG-25 was completed, the prototype making it's maiden flight in 1964. The MiG-25 possessed exceptionally high performance, with a maximum speed of Mach 3.2 not to mention an acknowledged 1977 world altitude record of 123,523.58 ft (37,650 m) in a specially prepared MiG-25 is still awesome, even 44 years after the MiG-25 Foxbat's initial flight. The current service status of the remaining MiG-25's is unclear following the break-up of the Soviet Block but some of the 1190 aircraft produced were still operational in 2006 in both interceptor and reconnaissance roles. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25P 'Foxbat-A' Specifications: - Crew: Pilot only
- Length: 19.75 m (64 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 14.01 m (45 ft 11.5 in)
- Height: 6.10 m (20 ft 0.25 in)
- Wing area: 61.40 m² (660.93 ft²)
- Empty weight: 20,000 kg (44,080 lb)
- Loaded weight: 36,720 kg (80,952 lb)
- Engines: Twin 100.1 kN (22,494 lbf) Tumansky R-15B-300 afterburning turbojets
- Mach 3.2 (3,645 km/h, 2,385 mph)
- Range: 1,730 km (1,075 mi) with internal fuel
- Service ceiling 20,700 m (with 4 missiles) (67,915 ft)
- Time to altitude: 8.9 min to 20,000 m (65,615 ft)
Armament: - Twin radar-guided R-40R air-to-air missiles
- Twin infrared-guided R-40T missiles
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