Blackbird, Foxbat, and Foxhound

How do you intercept an aircraft that flies at 3,540 km/h and 80,000 feet above sea level? With a lot of help from a lot of friends.

Strategic aerial reconnaissance is a significant plot point in my trilogy of spy novels beginning with Let Bhutto Eat Grass (Amazon link). While doing research for the novels, I chanced upon stories of the U-2 and its successors — the Oxcart & the Blackbird — as well as their peers — the Foxbat & the Foxhound. Recalling some of the amazing stories from back then, this is the last of a three-part series of articles on these magnificent aircraft. The first two are linked to in the paragraph below.

Oxcarts were retired in 1968 after completing Operation Black Shield. They flew over Vietnam (and parts of China in the process), but never over the Soviet Union — after an S-75 Dvina had downed the U-2 being flown by Gary Powers the fear of one being shot down over the USSR was too great. In a cruel twist of fate, the Oxcarts were ‘outlived’ by the aircraft they were meant to make obsolete.

China & Taiwan

While the CIA was forbidden from overflights over the USSR proper, U-2s continued flying over hostile states for strategic reconnaissance. In 1961, the CIA convinced the government of Taiwan to build a team of pilots to fly U-2 missions over China. This was a year after Gary Powers had been shot down by a Soviet SAM, and two years after the same missile had downed a TaiwaneseMartin RB-57D Canberra over China on 7 October 1959. These came to be called the Black Cat Squadron. Beginning in 1962, they flew missions from Taoyuan in Taiwan to obtain imagery of suspected nuclear weapons facilities, missile launch sites, aircraft manufacturing facilities, airfields and ports, and industrial clusters. Five Taiwanese-piloted U-2s would be shot down by S-75s in China over the duration of this program.

Taoyuan, Taiwan

A mission of particular note was a U-2 flight over east, central & west China flown on 8 January 1965 by one of the pilots of the Black Cat Squadron. The primary target was a gaseous diffusion plant at Lan Chou (Lanzhou), believed to be the site where the PRC had enriched Uranium for its first nuclear weapons test at Lop Nur. The aircraft carried an infrared sensor for determining if the plant was active, and the output fed into a CIA estimate of how much weapons-grade Uranium China could produce over the next few years. Photographs obtained from this and other U-2 missions also detected physical security measures for the plant including anti-aircraft defences.

Photographs of the buildings constructed there were sufficient for CIA analysts to conclude that although the gaseous diffusion plant at Lan Chou was operational, the infrastructure was inadequate for enrichment to weapons-grade. They speculated that an electromagnetic separation facility might also have been involved. By monitoring subsequent construction at this site, they were able to estimate China’s ability to enrich uranium to weapons-grade. The CIA rejected the possibility that China or the Soviets had developed the Centrifuge process for enriching uranium (and they were right — the North Koreans received this technology from Pakistan & AQ Khan, not China).

Lanzhou, China

Blackbird

The Oxcart was replaced by the SR-71 Blackbird, a two-seater variant of the A-12 equipped with sensor packages for gathering Electronic Intelligence, as well as a side-looking radar (later replaced by a Synthetic Aperture Radar) for ground-mapping, in addition to optical and infrared cameras.

SR-71 Blackbird

The Blackbird also included electronic countermeasures for missile and aircraft threats. It was these that enabled the aircraft to be considered for a mission for which the A-12 was never a candidate: post-nuclear strike reconnaissance over the USSR. These reconnaissance missions were expected to generate two types of assessments: generalised estimates of how well US ICBMs / SLBMs performed, and specific target destruction information. While other platforms could be used for generalised estimation, the task of getting information about specific target destruction was something that the SR-71 was believed to be especially well suited for. This was also used to argue against a reduction in the SR-71 inventory of the USAF as early as 1971.

Following the storage of Oxcarts in 1968, Blackbirds took over the role of reconnaissance of Vietnam, North Korea, and parts of China. But President Eisenhower’s ban on overflights over the USSR remained in place, and the SR-71 never flew over Soviet Russia. Beyond the threat of SAMs and interception by Soviet aircraft, an additional concern that contributed to this was the fear of engine failure over the USSR.

Blackbirds did, however, fly along the borders and use the lateral coverage of their sensors to gain intelligence about hundreds of miles of Soviet territory. And while doing so there were more than a few occasions when the Soviets had a reasonable lock on them.

Foxbat

After the B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers, the B-58 Hustler entered service with the USAF in 1960. It was designed to fly at high altitude at Mach 2 and deliver a nuclear weapon onto targets deep within the Soviet Union. As the Hustler was entering service, the Americans were designing the XB-70 Valkyrie, a strategic bomber designed to fly at Mach 3 while flying at 70,000 feet, making it practically immune to interceptor aircraft of that era.

The Soviets were keenly aware of the need to intercept these bombers and towards the end of the 1950s, they began designing fast interceptors that could fly high enough to target them. Work on what would become the MiG-25 Foxbat began at least a year before the Soviets learnt of the A-12 Oxcart program of the CIA. The Foxbat was revealed to the public on 9 July 1967 when 4 prototypes flew at the Domodedovo air show.

The Foxbat could cruise at Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h) with partial afterburner, and touch Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h) for up to 5 minutes due to overheating of the airframe and fuel tanks. The aircraft was capable of exceeding Mach 3, but doing so would require replacement of the engines as they would literally begin eating themselves. The maximum altitude it reached with a 1,000kg payload was 115,500 feet on 25 July 1973.

MiG-25 Foxbat two-seater variant

The CIA became aware of this new aircraft through satellite imagery around 1970. The new aircraft was enormous, and based on its very large wings and engines, analysts came to the conclusion that the Foxbat was an agile air-combat fighter. Large wings typically make aircraft nimble, easy to turn. This influenced design decisions in the F-15 which was then under development.

In March 1971 the Soviets sent 2 x MiG-25R and 2 x MiG-25RB to Egypt where they were operated till July 1972 by the Soviet 63rd Independent Air Detachment (Det 63). This was in response to Israeli reconnaissance flights deep into Egyptian airspace to monitor the construction of new airbases and SAM sites. The MiG-25R was a single-seat reconnaissance version equipped with a SLAR, one vertical and four oblique cameras. The RB was a reconnaissance-bomber that also had an automatic bombing system. It could carry eight bombs.

Det 63 settled down to the routine of flying two sorties over the Sinai, photographing Israeli deployments along the length and breadth of the peninsula. In one instance the Israelis recorded a Foxbat speed up to Mach 3.2 and climb to 63,000 feet. Later that year they even ambushed one of the MiG-25s and fired missiles directly at it. But this was done from 30,000 feet below, and the missiles’ motors burned out before getting anywhere near the MiG. One of these missiles even landed intact west of the Suez Canal and was recovered by the Egyptians who later gifted it to the Soviets.

This information, coupled with the analysis of satellite photographs showing the dimensions of the Foxbat, alarmed the USAF which was presented with a Soviet fighter that could outfly anything in their inventory.

A closer look

On the afternoon of 6 September 1976, civilians driving past Hakodate airport on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido saw a large fighter jet descend, narrowly miss a commercial airliner, and make an awkward landing before running off the runway, continuing 800 feet through the mud, and coming to a stop. This had the effect of damaging the landing gear and making the aircraft unable to take off again. In the process the aircraft showed considerable gaps in Japanese air defence, having evaded intercept for 46 minutes and flown straight into a commercial airport.

Hakodate airport, 740 km east of Vladivostok

The pilot got down from the aircraft, fired two shots from his pistol in the air, and sought political asylum in the United States. His name was Viktor Belenko. Lieutenant Belenko was a pilot with the 513th Fighter Regiment of the Soviet Air Defence Forces. He had flown from Vladivostok in a MiG-25. He found himself in a bureaucratic tug of war and was arrested by Hakodate prefectural police and held at a hotel room before the Japanese Self Defence forces could arrive. The police even covered up the aircraft.

Viktor Belenko’s Foxbat at Hakodate.

Ordinarily, Soviet pilots were not given enough fuel to be able to fly to Japan. But Belenko had overstated fuel consumption during the previous flight and had managed to trick his squadron into filling the aircraft with just enough to make it to Hokkaido. His target was Chitose airbase, but when he couldn’t find it and began running out of fuel, he landed at the nearest airport he saw - Hakodate. He made it with 30 seconds worth of fuel left.

The Soviets protested, of course, and demanded that both the pilot and the aircraft be returned to them, but the Japanese politely feigned inability to move the aircraft themselves. They also pointed out that Belenko had committed a crime and the aircraft was evidence. Two days later the Japanese allowed Soviet officials to meet Belenko. This was to demonstrate to the Soviets that Belenko truly wanted to defect. The officials tried to convince Belenko to return. The narrative being spun by TASS was that he had landed in Japan because he was lost and had run out of fuel. But Belenko was adamant about defecting to the US. Later he was handed over to the American embassy and was immediately flown to the US. This was followed by a debrief that carried on for five months.

Belenko’s military identity document

On 25 September the Foxbat was flown to another airbase in a USAF C-5A transport aircraft. There it was carefully disassembled and studied by a large team of Japanese and American technicians, and they even ground-tested its radar and engines. After 67 days of bureaucratic stalling by the Japanese government following Belenko’s landing, the disassembled Foxbat was returned to the Soviet Union by Ship. Some accounts mention that the Japanese government even charged the USSR $40,000 for damage caused and shipping costs.

What they saw amazed them, and not in a good way. The aircraft wasn’t made of Titanium, as the USAF feared, but of a nickel-steel alloy. This made it heavy — that was why it had such massive wings. And while it had been feared by the CIA and USAF that the aircraft would be agile, the reality was that while the MiG-25 could fly fast, it wasn’t very good at turning. What was believed to be a potent threat to the Blackbird was anything but. Belenko himself stated during his debrief that although they had often attempted to intercept SR-71s that flew along the Russian coast, the Foxbat had come up short. This was due to the fact that it could only sustain Mach 2.8 for 5 minutes.

Foxhound

Three years after Belenko’s defection, the USSR began serial production of the Foxbat’s successor. The MiG-31 Foxhound was designed to overcome the limitations of the Foxbat. While it could fly faster than the Foxbat and had a stronger airframe, a key improvement was a powerful phased array radar capable of tracking fighter-sized targets at 200 km. It was also armed with R-33 missiles which, at Mach 4.5, were capable of outflying the Blackbird.

MiG-31 Foxhound

And intercept Blackbirds they did. The Soviets evolved a finely tuned procedure for tackling the SR-71s flying at the edge of Soviet airspace. Foxhounds would launch exactly 16 minutes after the Blackbird was detected by Soviet ground-based radars and, while climbing, break the sound barrier around 26,000 feet. They would be vectored along a course calculated by ground control. They would have an infrared lock on the Blackbird at a little over 50,000 feet, and the aircraft computer would program the R-33 missiles. The Foxhound would continue climbing and closing in on the Blackbird. By this point, the Blackbird pilots would get the message and leave.

On 3 June 1986, the Soviets sent 6 Foxhounds to intercept a Blackbird flying towards the USSR over the Barents Sea north of Norway and Russia. The Foxhounds were vectored with precision and conducted a simultaneous intercept such that the Blackbird had Foxhounds on all sides. The Soviets were sending a message. The USAF received it. After that, the Blackbird did not fly close to Soviet borders again.

Postscript: Islamabad

India also operated reconnaissance versions of the MiG-25. These were used extensively during the Kargil War and Operation Parakram. But the anecdote most often mentioned goes back to May 1997.

An IAF MiG-25RB flew into Pakistani airspace at 65,000 feet & subsonic speeds and evaded detection. It photographed installations of interest around Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi, which houses the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army. Then it turned back to India and, while still flying over Islamabad, accelerated to Mach 2.

The sonic boom of the aircraft was taken by the Pakistani establishment as a deliberate provocation; it was as if the Foxbat pilot was taunting the PAF that none of the aircraft in its inventory were capable of intercepting it. One of the PAF’s forward bases scrambled F-16As, but by the time they were airborne, the Foxbat was already back in Indian airspace. In any event, with a service ceiling of 55,000 feet, the F-16A would have found it difficult to do much more than watching the Foxbat fly away.

Distance from Rawalpindi to the Line of Control, as the Foxbat flies.

Sources

CIA Archives, NSA Archives, War is Boring, VayuSena tripod page, The Aviation Geek Club, Russia & India Report, Business Insider, BBC Future, The National Interest, Historic Wings, Wikileaks

Shaunak Agarkhedkar writes spy novels. His first two - Let Bhutto Eat Grass & Let Bhutto Eat Grass: Part 2 - deal with nuclear weapons espionage in 1970s India, Pakistan, and Europe.