There was a time when the Americans ruled the skies with almost science fiction-looking planes, such as the SR-71 Blackbird. A supersonic surveillance bird that looked more like the jet from X-Men than a military plane, the SR-71 broke just about every aviation record known to man. 

It was used on countless dangerous missions penetrating deep into the heart of what was then the Soviet Union during the Cold War. America’s military used the bird for such risky surveillance operations because it flew high and went so fast that it outran whatever jets or anti-aircraft weapons were scrambled to intercept it.

Except for the Soviet MiG-25 (NATO designation “Foxbat”). The Soviets were aware of the Blackbird and didn’t like Uncle Sam having a key to their front door. A closed society that prized its opaqueness when dealing with the non-communist world, the Soviet military was obsessed with closing their airspace to the American surveillance program. 

So, the MiG-25 was designed to address this need. Entering service in 1970, possessing a top speed of Mach 2.83, equipped with powerful radar, and carrying up to four air-to-air missiles, this bird was a true challenger to the SR-71.

It's only that the Americans did not realize how vulnerable their prized surveillance Blackbird was to new Soviet air defenses. The Americans would not know about the dangers that the Foxbat posed to the Blackbird until six years after the MiG-25 entered Soviet service. The only reason U.S. intelligence learned of the threat was because a Soviet defector, Viktor Belenko, literally stole his MiG-25 and flew it over to nearby Japan for him to defect to the United States.

The Event 

When American intelligence specialists got their hands on Belenko’s MiG-25, they were astonished by the level of sophistication in the plane’s engineering and design. Although it was a simple design, it was effective. 

It possessed vacuum-tube electronics, two large turbojet engines, and a limited amount of advanced materials for its hull, such as titanium. Indeed, that is likely one of the reasons the Soviets built it—the plane was relatively cheap, yet it could fly fast and carry some mean weapons.

While an SR-71 emanating from Kadena Air Base in Japan, was going in for images of key communist targets throughout the Asian side of the Communist Bloc, MiG-25s from Vladivostok gave chase. 

According to the stories from the era, Soviet pilots of the MiG-25s at Vladivostok dreamed of downing the legendary American spy plane. 

Years later, Belenko would recount this experience to American documentary filmmakers. According to Belenko’s testimony, while possible, the ability for even the MiG-25 to shoot down the Blackbird, which was traveling at 3,600 feet-per-second, that’s faster than a speeding bullet, was so difficult that few Soviet pilots would have even had a chance. 

To enhance their ability to shoot down such elusive prey, Soviet pilots would pre-position their MiG-25s ahead of the SR-71’s radar track. They’d then zoom up on their radar to get a lock on the speeding target with their missile.

Shooting At One’s Self 

Even the SR-71’s anti-missile system, though, was highly impressive. When the pilots of the SR-71 that had been targeted by Belenko’s MiG-25 squad noticed one of the MiGs, Belenko’s, as it turned out, fired a missile at the passing SR-71. It barely registered to the American pilots because they immediately put their defensive systems online. 

That, and the speed of the Blackbird, meant that the short time the missile had a lock did not last. However, speculation on this event indicates that the missiles fired at the Blackbird might have locked onto MiG-25s themselves after the missile lost its lock on the SR-71.

It just goes to show you how truly impressive the SR-71 was. The Blackbird was ahead of its time and, ironically, was retired far too early.

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is available for purchase wherever books are sold. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

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