ding to the same sources, at least one F-111 was also forced to abort its mission by a MiG-25 on the first 24 hours of hostilities, during an air raid over Tikrit.44
After the war, on 27 December 1992, a U.S. F-16D downed a MiG-25 that violated the no-fly zone in southern Iraq with an AMRAAM missile. It was the first USAF F-16 air to air victory and the first AMRAAM kill.45
On 23 December 2002, an Iraqi MiG-25 shot down a U.S. Air Force unmanned MQ-1 Predator drone, which was performing armed reconnaissance over Iraq. This was the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat. Predators had been armed with AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missiles, and were being used to "bait" Iraqi fighter aircraft, then run. In this incident, the Predator did not run, but instead fired one of the Stingers, which missed, while the MiG's missile did not.4647
No Iraqi aircraft were deployed in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, with most Iraqi aircraft being hidden or destroyed on the ground. In August 2003, several dozen Iraqi aircraft were discovered buried in the sand.
The MiG-25 was kept a guarded secret in India, and was nicknamed Garuda, after the large mythical bird-like creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology.48 It was used extensively in the Kargil War and Operation Parakram, conducting aerial reconnaissance sorties of Pakistan.N 249
In May 1997, an Indian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-25RB reconnaissance aircraft created a furor when the pilot flew faster than Mach 2 over Pakistani territory following a reconnaissance mission into Pakistan airspace.50 The MiG-25 broke the sound barrier while flying at an altitude of around 65,000 feet, otherwise the mission would have remained covert, at least to the general public. The Pakistan Government considered the breaking of the sound barrier was deliberate to make the point that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had no aircraft in its inventory which can come close to the MiG-25's cruising altitude (up to 74,000 feet).50 India denied the incident but Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Gohar Ayub Khan, believed that the Foxbat photographed strategic installations near the capital, Islamabad.5051
- Reconnaissance prototypes. Two prototypes (Ye-155R-1 and Ye-155R-2) followed by four pre-production aircraft fitted with reconnaissance equipment.52
- Interceptor fighter prototypes. Two prototypes (Ye-155P-1 and Ye-155P02) followed by nine pre-production aircraft.53
- Designation applied to prototypes and pre-production aircraft (Ye-155R-1, Ye-155R-3 and Ye-155P-1) used for record breaking purposes in official documentation supplied to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.54
- Single-seat all-weather interceptor fighter aircraft, powered by two Tumansky R-15B-300 turbojet engines, fitted with RP-25 Smerch-A1 radar and armed with four R-40 air-to-air missiles. NATO designation Foxbat-A.55
- Improved single-seat all-weather interceptor fighter aircraft, which entered service from 1979. Fitted with R-15BD-300 engines and new N-005 Saphir-25 (RP-25M) Pulse-Doppler radar with look-down/shoot down capability, based on the radar of the MiG-23ML. Could be fitted with four R-60 air-to-air missiles replacing outermost two R-40 missiles. Late examples fitted with an undernose IR search and track system. NATO designation Foxbat-E.56
- Upgrade of surviving MiG-25Ps to MiG-25PD standard from 1979. NATO designation Foxbat-E.57
- Single MiG-25PD modified by addition of electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment.57
- Single MiG-25PD modified with retractable in-flight refuelling probe.57
- Two testbeds (one converted from a MiG-25RB and one from a MiG-25PD) for more powerful (98.04 kN (22,045 lbf) dry, 129.71 kN (29,166 lbf) with afterburner) engines.58
- Designation applied to MiG-25M when used for record breaking in 1975 and 1977, including setting an absolute altitude record of 37,650 m (123,524 ft) on 31 August 1977.58
- Izdelye 99
- Two aircraft used as testbeds for Soloviev D-30F turbofan as later used in MiG-31.56
- Single-seat high-altitude daylight reconnaissance aircraft, fitted 