Farewell, the MiGnificent flying machine
Shiv Aroor
Posted online: Sunday, April 16, 2006 at 0000 hrs
AFS BAREILLY, APRIL 15
May 1997: An IAF MiG-25R breaks the sound barrier over Islamabad, the sonic boom mistaken for a blast down below. Pak radars pick up the intruder, scramble F-16s but can’t get anywhere close. Pak says the MiG-25 pilot deliberately gave out aircraft signature to remind PAF it had no equal in its inventory.
Nine years later, the IAF is all set to retire its most closely guarded assets: the MiG-25R Foxbat, the great Cold War machine which entered IAF service in 1981 and flew secret reconnaissance missions over Pakistan and China, will be officially phased out on May 1.
And this week, The Sunday Express became the first news organisation in the country ever to be given exclusive access to the Foxbat squadron, its pilots, technicians and maintenance hangars (For a detailed report, turn to Section II of today’s edition).
Wing Commander Alok Chauhan, a MiG-25 pilot with the Rapiers Squadron—in 2003 it took the Foxbats from the 102 Trisonics squadron—says it’s a rare privilege: “Most in the IAF have not even seen this base or the aircraft”. Until now, only a handful of IAF-released photographs of the Foxbats were in the public domain.
Just why has the Bareilly base been a forbidden zone? Because the Foxbat was to the IAF what the SR-71 Blackbird was to the USAF. Eight MiG-25R variants and two MiG-25U for conversion training made the Trisonics squadron a “strategic reconnaissance” unit.
Flying at almost three times the speed of sound despite its 40-ton fully loaded weight—it was made of welded nickel-steel with titanium for heat critical areas—and cruising in the stratosphere at almost 100,000 feet, these mysterious jets could map all of Pakistan without letting the other side get a whiff. “These aircraft can map a country the size of Pakistan in a single-digit number of missions. Frankly, we can push our Foxbats for another 2-3 years, but after three life extensions, it’s prudent to retire them now,” says Wing Commander Chauhan.
Bareilly base commander Air Commodore Shankar Mani agrees: “These aircraft were and are the envy of the world. After 25 years of yeoman service, it is now time to let them go. They had served us exceptionally. We have innovated and changed, we must move on now.”
For an aircraft that came to define Cold War paranoia and the need for hawk eyes in the sky, the Foxbats are flying more than ever before, recording as much as they possibly can before retiring. At top speed, a Foxbat can zip away from missiles, allowing for almost trouble-free spying.
The seniormost and most accomplished Foxbat pilot still in service, assistant chief Air Vice Marshal Sumit Mukerji said, “It feels pretty exclusive to be part of the Mach 3 club. It’s sad that pilots may never get a chance to fly such a machine ever again.”
And until May 15, the Foxbats will remain in the air.
“For posterity, we are storing certain data right now. It is a very unique achievement that would not have been possible with any other aircraft,” says Air Commodore Mani.
The void they leave behind at the Bareilly base will be rapidly filled by two new squadrons of Russian Sukhoi-30 MKIs, aircraft that can fly farther, but not half as high or fast as the spy planes. It is to satellites that the IAF will now turn to enhance its capability once the Foxbats retire. The IAF has already proposed declassification of much of the Foxbat’s tenure. “We have taken up a case to declassify certain things, but it is ultimately up to the higher command. We would like to ultimately ring out to the country an object that has remained under a veil of secrecy,” says Wing Commander Manish Khanna, commanding officer of the Foxbat squadron.
With the aircraft gone, Khanna’s squadron will now move to a base near Lucknow and raise a new MiG-21 unit.
Letting the Foxbats go has been deeply emotional. Wing Commander Sanjeev Taliyan speaks for the squadron: “From the height at which we fly, you can see the entire Himalayan range at one go. No aircraft has ever been able to achieve for us what the Foxbat has. We will miss flying them.”
Shiv Aroor
Posted online: Sunday, April 16, 2006 at 0000 hrs
AFS BAREILLY, APRIL 15
May 1997: An IAF MiG-25R breaks the sound barrier over Islamabad, the sonic boom mistaken for a blast down below. Pak radars pick up the intruder, scramble F-16s but can’t get anywhere close. Pak says the MiG-25 pilot deliberately gave out aircraft signature to remind PAF it had no equal in its inventory.
Nine years later, the IAF is all set to retire its most closely guarded assets: the MiG-25R Foxbat, the great Cold War machine which entered IAF service in 1981 and flew secret reconnaissance missions over Pakistan and China, will be officially phased out on May 1.
And this week, The Sunday Express became the first news organisation in the country ever to be given exclusive access to the Foxbat squadron, its pilots, technicians and maintenance hangars (For a detailed report, turn to Section II of today’s edition).
Wing Commander Alok Chauhan, a MiG-25 pilot with the Rapiers Squadron—in 2003 it took the Foxbats from the 102 Trisonics squadron—says it’s a rare privilege: “Most in the IAF have not even seen this base or the aircraft”. Until now, only a handful of IAF-released photographs of the Foxbats were in the public domain.
Just why has the Bareilly base been a forbidden zone? Because the Foxbat was to the IAF what the SR-71 Blackbird was to the USAF. Eight MiG-25R variants and two MiG-25U for conversion training made the Trisonics squadron a “strategic reconnaissance” unit.
Flying at almost three times the speed of sound despite its 40-ton fully loaded weight—it was made of welded nickel-steel with titanium for heat critical areas—and cruising in the stratosphere at almost 100,000 feet, these mysterious jets could map all of Pakistan without letting the other side get a whiff. “These aircraft can map a country the size of Pakistan in a single-digit number of missions. Frankly, we can push our Foxbats for another 2-3 years, but after three life extensions, it’s prudent to retire them now,” says Wing Commander Chauhan.
Bareilly base commander Air Commodore Shankar Mani agrees: “These aircraft were and are the envy of the world. After 25 years of yeoman service, it is now time to let them go. They had served us exceptionally. We have innovated and changed, we must move on now.”
For an aircraft that came to define Cold War paranoia and the need for hawk eyes in the sky, the Foxbats are flying more than ever before, recording as much as they possibly can before retiring. At top speed, a Foxbat can zip away from missiles, allowing for almost trouble-free spying.
The seniormost and most accomplished Foxbat pilot still in service, assistant chief Air Vice Marshal Sumit Mukerji said, “It feels pretty exclusive to be part of the Mach 3 club. It’s sad that pilots may never get a chance to fly such a machine ever again.”
And until May 15, the Foxbats will remain in the air.
“For posterity, we are storing certain data right now. It is a very unique achievement that would not have been possible with any other aircraft,” says Air Commodore Mani.
The void they leave behind at the Bareilly base will be rapidly filled by two new squadrons of Russian Sukhoi-30 MKIs, aircraft that can fly farther, but not half as high or fast as the spy planes. It is to satellites that the IAF will now turn to enhance its capability once the Foxbats retire. The IAF has already proposed declassification of much of the Foxbat’s tenure. “We have taken up a case to declassify certain things, but it is ultimately up to the higher command. We would like to ultimately ring out to the country an object that has remained under a veil of secrecy,” says Wing Commander Manish Khanna, commanding officer of the Foxbat squadron.
With the aircraft gone, Khanna’s squadron will now move to a base near Lucknow and raise a new MiG-21 unit.
Letting the Foxbats go has been deeply emotional. Wing Commander Sanjeev Taliyan speaks for the squadron: “From the height at which we fly, you can see the entire Himalayan range at one go. No aircraft has ever been able to achieve for us what the Foxbat has. We will miss flying them.”
http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/07/stor...0704221500.htm
While one of the MiG-25 "High Altitude Strategic Reconnaissance" planes has been earmarked for the IAF museum at Palam, another will be permanently parked at the Air Force Academy, Dindigul. As the MiG-25, at 30 tonnes, is a heavy aircraft, the remaining two planes will have to be accommodated near the airport since it is nearly impossible to dismantle them for transportation and assemble them again
There's one MiG-25 going, to whoever can pay for its transport from Bareilly (can't be ferried). Any takers? Serious enquiries to ACAS Ops (C&D), Air HQ (Vayu Bhavan), New Delhi
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