IAF.2 :- The Mig 25 (Foxbot) :- IAF's Story

MIG-25,  the reconnaissance aircrafts from Russia can map country like Pakistan in one go. 

People who question the IAF's version of events don't realise that the service never exaggerates its kills nor hides losses. This is because it needs to acquire a true picture of its capabilities - and that of its adversaries - and the best way to lose the next war is to get those strike rates wrong. For instance, for more than 25 years beginning in 1981 the IAF made frequent and regular over-flights over Pakistan, but has never divulged details of those missions. The aircraft used was the reconnaissance (spying) version of the world's fastest fighter ever - the Russian MiG-25 (NATO codename: Foxbat).
Mig 25 can travel with speed of 2.8 mach and at 85000 Ft. and it holds a record of flying at 125000 Ft. near space .
The Pakistani military and political leadership knew about these over-flights but kept quiet because they didn't want to let their people know the Pakistan Air Force was powerless to intercept it. The MiG-25s flew at speeds of Mach 2.8 or around 3,500 kmph at heights between 65,000 and 85,000 ft while the much slower F-16s (maximum speed Mach 1.9) couldn't climb over 50,000 ft. There is no fighter aircraft in the Western air forces that can match the MiG-25.
The Pakistani public first came to know of these humiliating over-flights in May 1997 when an IAF MiG-25R flew deep into Pakistani airspace on a reconnaissance mission, photographed sensitive defence sites and broke the sound barrier, sending a powerful sonic boom over Islamabad. Before the Pakistanis could figure out what had hit them or scramble their fighter aircraft, the intruding MiG-25 was back in Indian airspace
Details of the missions are classified, so it remains a mystery why the Indian pilot chose to reveal his presence over a heavily populated area of Pakistan. Some sources like Spyflight, a website dedicated to reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft, have speculated that the MiG-25 pilot wanted to show that the PAF was the IAF's bunny."The aircraft entered Pakistani airspace sub-sonically (below the speed of sound) at around 65,000 ft and was undetected," says Spyflight. "Then having overflown and photographed strategic installations near the capital, Islamabad, the aircraft turned back towards India. Perhaps to rub the Pakistanis' noses in it, the Foxbat pilot decided to accelerate up to Mach 2 and dropped a large sonic boom as he exited Pakistani airspace. A number of PAF F-16As were scrambled, but had insufficient time to make an effective intercept."India denied the incident but the then Pakistani Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan believed that the Foxbat photographed strategic installations near Islamabad. Air Power International says the Pakistan government considered the breaking of the sound barrier a deliberate act - to make the point that the PAF had no aircraft in its inventory which could come close to the cruising height of the MiG-25.Flying at the edge of space, the aircraft was virtually undetectable to Pakistan's radar network. Only the sonic boom and the fact that it was flying at an unusually low level allowed a Pakistani forward operating base to trace the Foxbat and scramble a couple of F-16As from Sargodha air base.Chasing the Foxbat was pointless. Sources in the PAF told Air Power International there was no need to intercept an aircraft flying at 65,000 ft as the F-16 could climb to an altitude of only 50,000 ft. If pushed to its limits, the Russian jet could climb much higher. On August 21, 1977, Russian test pilot Alexander Fedotov climbed to an altitude of 123,523 ft above the Earth.The Foxbat's speed posed a huge set of problem for any interceptor. It was capable of sustained speeds of Mach 2.5 whereas Western fighters could potentially end up with their engines irreparably damaged if they tried that stunt. The F-16's normal cruising speed is Mach 1.2 which would allow the MiG-25 to fly laps around it.Worse, as the highly experienced and well-equipped Israeli Air Force found out - while trying to intercept a Syrian MiG-25 - attacking a Foxbat head on also proved unsuccessful because the radars and guidance computers of Western air-to-air missiles couldn't cope with the MiG's tremendous closing speed and failed to achieve a lock.From 1981 to 2006, eight MiG-25s of the Trisonics squadron based in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, flew unchallenged over Pakistan (and sometimes Tibet), taking countless high definition photographs and radar images of the situation on the ground. Plus, they recorded electronic emissions from Pakistani and Chinese military communication networks. On an average they flew 10-15 missions a month.

The one who all are questioning over surgical strike . this article is for you guys. we are professional force we don't boost about ourself. NO one except few people came to know about these aircrafts till they got retired.