MiG-25 'Foxbat' MiG-31 'Foxhound' Russia's Defensive Front Line Yefim Gordon Colour profiles by Valentin Vetlitskii. Line illustrations by Oleg Put'makov Translation by Dmitri Komissarov MiG-25 'Foxbat' and MiG-31 'Foxhound' © 1997 Yefitn Gordon ISBN 1 85780 064 8 Design concept and layout © 1997 Midland Publishing Limited and Stephen Thompson Associates Published by Midland Publishing Limited 24 The Hollow, Earl Shilton Leicester, LE9 7NA, England Edited by Ken Ellis Tel: 01455 847 815 Fax: 01455 841 805 E-mail:
[email protected] United States trade distribution by Specialty Press Publishers & Wholesalers Inc. 11481 Kost Dam Road, North Branch, MN 55056 Tel: 612 583 3239 Fax: 612 583 2023 Toll free telephone: 800 895 4585 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photo-copied, recorded or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers. Contents Printed in England by Clearpoint Colourprint Limited Daybrook, Nottingham, NG5 6HD Aerofax is an imprint of Midland Publishing Limited The author and publishers wish to thank the following for their contributions to this book: Rotislav Belyakov, General Designer, MiG 0KB; Anatoliy Belosvet, Deputy Designer, MiG OKB; Eduard Kostrubskii and Yurii Polushkin, designers at MiG OKB; Konstantin Udalov of Avico-Press and Dmitrii Khazanov. Foreword 3 Abbreviations and Designations 4 Chapters 1 Awakening 2 A (Red) Star is Born 3 All the King's Horses 4 Under the Skin 5 'Foxbats' in Action 6 'Foxbats' in Detail 7 'Foxbats' in Colour 8 From 'Bats to 'Dogs' Index Title page: MiG-31 'Blue 31' operational at a Far East PVO air base. Sergei Skrynnikov Below: The Ye-155R-3 - third prototype of what was to become the MiG-25, with large ventral fuel tank. Yefim Gordon archive 2 5 7 14 40 46 54 65 77 96 Foreword Уважаемые читатели английского издания книга МИГ-25/МИГ-31! Эти самолеты стали эпохой не только в Российской, но и в мировой авиации» Знакомство с историей создания этих самолетов поможет вам лучше понять жизнь конструкторского бюро и создателей знаменитых МИГов. Желаю всего наилучшего читателям и издательству Генеральный конструктор Dear Readers, These warplanes became an epoch, not just of Russian, but of world aviation. By acquainting yourselves with the design history of these two aircraft, it will help you to appreciate the life of the Design Bureau itself and its famous aircraft and personalities. With best wishes to the readers and to the publisher. Rotislav Belyakov, General Designer, MiG-MAPO 3 Abbreviations and Designations ДАМ ABNCP AFCS AoA ANS APU ARM ASCC Air-to-air missile. Airborne Command Post. Automatic Flight Control System. Angle of Attack. Automatic Naviation System. Auxiliary Power Unit. Anti-Radiation Missile Air Standards Co-ordinating Committee, allocated ! reporting names to WarPac types, eg Fishbed'. ASI Air speed indicator. CAHI Central Aerodynamic and Hydrodynamic Institute, often rendered in English phonetically as TsAGI (Tsentralny Aerogidrodynamichesky Institut). eg Centre of gravity. ChR Special combat regime flight rating. CIAM Central Institute of Aviation Motors - Tsentral'nyi Institut Aviatsionnogo Motorostoeniya. C-in-C Commander-in-Chief. 3 CI Command, Con