Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25

what is it?

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (Russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) was a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau, it is an aircraft built primarily using a nickel-steel alloy. It was the last aircraft designed by Mikhail Gurevich before his retirement.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 14 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 3,000 km/htop speed
• range 1,860 kmwithout refuelling
• size 36.7 tmax take-off weight
• built 1,190made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 62 years ago, in 1964.
• 🏎️Top speed is 23.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 2.4 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 1,860 km: 10× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 2.3× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1964-03-05

introduced

1970

status

retired

number built

1,190

role

interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG, Sokol

engines

2× Tumansky R-15B-300 / Tumansky R-15

crew

1

length

23.8 m

wingspan

14 m

height

6.1 m

max take-off weight

36.7 t

top speed

3,000 km/h

range

1,860 km

ceiling

20,700 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.