Jimmy

Globalsecurity lists the max ceiling for the MiG-31 as 80k feet, max speed 2.83 Mach.

SR-71 specifications are still classified. The top speed in a public event was over 2193 mph. Highest public-viewed cruising altitude is listed at over 85k feet. That's cruising, not just max/AB until the nose dips from airspeed bleed-off. An A-12 cruised at over 90k. Again, cruised...at over 3.2 Mach btw.

But lets take a closer look at the MiG-25 specifically. Since the US has a few of them, and released some info about what they learned. My source is http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/mig25.html, but I'll copy/paste some interesting tidbits:

Pilots were forbidden to exceed Mach 2.5. There was a total of three engine instruments and the airspeed indicator was redlined at 2.8 Mach.
Above Mach 2.8 the engines would overheat and burn up. The Americans had clocked a Mig-25 over Israel at Mach 3.2 in 1973. Upon landing in Egypt, the engines were totally destroyed. We did not understand that the engine destruction was inevitable.
The combat radius is 186 miles.
Ability to intercept an SR-71: Belenko states the Mig-25 cannot intercept the SR-71 for several reasons: The SR-71 fly too high and too fast; the Mig cannot reach it or catch it. The missiles lack the velocity to overtake the SR-71 and in the event of a head on missile fire (The Golden BB), the Guidance system cannot adjust to the high closure rate of the SR-71.
Maximum G load: With full fuel tanks 2.2 G's is max; with near empty fuel tanks, 5 G's is dangerous.
Search and tracking radar had a range of 55.9 miles.

Belenko is the MiG-25 pilot who landed his Foxbat in Japan in order to defect to the US. I'd say he knew the capabilities of the aircraft pretty well.

gunnut

Max speed is different than cruise speed. Mig 25 doesn't cruise at mach 3, or even 2.8. It has to kick in the afterburners and dump fuel in exchange for dash speed.

SR-71 is different than any other military plane in this regard. It CRUISES at mach 3+. It can sustain that speed for as long as it has fuel and not damage the plane.

Mig 25 is an amazing piece of machine given its crude technology and how fast it was developed.

SR-71 is an absolute masterpiece of engineering, the likes of which may not be duplicated given the secretive nature and how fast those revolutionary technologies were literally invented overnight.

Captain Drunk

Wrong. Absolutely impossible for an SR-71 to scan every inch of Russia, maybe border regions, like Kamchatka, but not the heart. The most an SR-71 could possibly go was less than 2000 km into Russia and back. You don’t have to read any pilot’s testimonial because technically its just impossible for an SR-71 to fly from say Vladivostok to Moscow or Karachi to Severnaya Zemlya unless Russian IL-78s refueled it 3 and 4 times on the way and neither would its camera look down angle coverage be large enough to suffice what a satellite could do.

gunnut

Who said anything about it turning around?

Captain Drunk

Here are my specs. For the Mig-25 :

1. Although SR-71 is faster, Mig-25 has reached the highest absolute altitude of 123,524 feet (37.65 km) claiming the World record that still stands for a military jet. In altitude Foxbat wins.

2. During the Cold War Soviet pilots had speed and range restrictions for political reasons. Migs were flown with less fuel to prevent pilots from defecting. Cruise speed was dropped from Mach 2.83 on the MiG-25 to Mach 2.3 on the MiG-31 to negate the use of heavier materials such as titanium throughout the structure, not for engine flame outs, what the West thought.

3. IAF Foxbat-Rs have almost always ‘crossed the fence’ beyond hostile borders at Mach 3+. Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Suri, aka “Yuri” a Foxbat pilot, who was trained along with Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma in the Indo-USSR Soyuz flight in 1984 would probably know the Mig-25 and its Mach 3+ speed even better than Belenko, since he was trained as a Cosmonaut. Unlike most squadrons, the commanding officer of a Foxbat squadron is a Group Captain, two ranks senior than the usual Squadron Leader. So as a case of senoirity in this matter, a Foxbat Group Captain would know better than any other F-teen driver who doesn’t do Mach 3

4. While Belenko stated that no Mig-25 can intercept an SR-71, a Foxhound very well could depending on the intercept angle, since it is the only fighter in the world with a 300-km range AAM.

5. Cost-wise a Recee Foxbat is excellent, it could cost much less than an F/A-18 EF with AMRAAMs. The SR-71 only beats the Foxbat in speed, size and price, but is just too expensive when the same can be achieved with something like a satellite, the size of a microwave oven.

highsea

Another tidbit, the SR-71 was designed to eject from at 100,000 ft. and Mach 3. Though it never happened (thankfully), that was the design criteria. Frightening.

When we were still operating them, they occasionally popped up on ARTCC radar. My brother was working in the Denver Center, they would occasionally see an AC on the radar that was unidentified. When they would try to get a fix on it, the altitude and speed readout would just show all zeros. Lol, but the vector line would stretch clear across the display.

Basically the computers were saying "we don't know how high he is, or how fast he's going". It was off the scale.

That was how they knew they were watching an SR-71 transiting the airspace. It was the only thing flying that could do that.

__________________
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Jimmy

Oh for crying out loud. You could intercept with a hangglider if you've got the right intercept angle.

Also, there is no such thing as a 300km AAM. I dont care where you read it, your source is WRONG.

Anon

The SR-71s actual performance is still classififed.

An interesting anecdote for you though. On it's very last operational USAF flight a SR-71 broke the absolute world speed record for an operational aircraft- a record that was held for about 30 years.....by an SR-71.

Regardless, the SR-71 has a max speed in excess of Mach 3.35 and a service cieling WELL in excess of 100,000 feet.

Anon

Closest i know of is the rumored 140nm(250+km) "closing engagement" range of the AIM-54C Phoenix(and even that range- if true- would depend on ideal engagement parameters).

gunnut

The SR-71 is like a hustler. It does just enough to set a record, and then just enough to beat it. When we drag the old girl out in 30 years for a mission that nothing else on this earth can perform, she'll set another record before she retires again. Just because...

urmomma158

You're such a dumbass globalsecurity states its top speed is mach 2.5. Well PAF pilots arent as good as Israeli pilots and you seem to forget the PAF has no amraams or sparrows jackass only aim 9 sidewinders. The Sr 71 is considered the fastest and highest flying jet so please stop the nonsense. Not to mention no amraams were allowed in cope india and you guys have longer range heat missiles. Besides thats all rusky equipment i should be giving most of the credit to the ruskies.Anyways F 15's have shot down Foxbats

Captain Drunk

Still, as a fighter plane, Foxbat is the fastest and holds the ultimate highest altitude record of 123,524 feet (37.65 km). And If you're talking of speed and height with the X-15, then the MiG-105 "Spiral" beats that too at Mach 8. Yet another Mig to boot!

Serbianpsyco

yeah but the SR-71 was made by NASA and the United States Air Force and the Mig 25 Wasent plus Nasa Makes Space Shuttles and stuff that go 27000km/h imagine if the Russians made a recon plane with there space shuttle program.

Anon

LOL.....i love denial.

Anon

The SR-71 was built by Kelly Johnson and Lockheed in record time with technology that had to be invented along the way and using no more than slide-rules.