Flying the IAF MiG-25 Foxbat | Sumit Mukerji (Part 2)

Former Indian Air Force MiG-25 Foxbat pilot, Sumit Mukerji, shares what it was like to fly the Foxbat in the recce role with some brilliant stories throughout.
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[@Helibeaver]

Pretty rare. Never heard a Mig 25 pilot interview

[@Aircrewinterview]

Hope you enjoyed it.

[@nidgem7171]

@@Aircrewinterview Deffo

[@remingtonsteele3581]

This guys is great. Great to talk to someone who really knows practical knowledge, not just statistics

[@shaileshkar]

Many Thanks for arranging this interview. Its so rare to have an interview of a Foxbat Pilot. It was interesting to know that the Pilot required to wear 4 layers of clothing !!! That too without AC untill it climbed till it was cold. It was also interesting to know that the MiG-25 uses special fuel with high specific gravity ( .84) for raising the flash point of the fuel !! Cool I hope a book gets written and published very soon on the Mig-25 in the IAF with pictures and to read about rare facts, operational milestones etc. Thank you Once again.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@TheFloozi]

My dad's instructor at the Indian Airforce academy was a Mig-25 pilot. He was told to not talk about the mig to anyone.

[@seanorourke1601]

Very technically articulate and clearly intelligent pilot and Indian officer. Clearly knows the MIG 25 abilities and technical specs. An impressive gentleman.

[@MrAlexwoolf]

This pilot has some great stories, and tells them very effectively. Obviously highly intelligent.

[@vivek27789]

He is legendary Indian Air Force pilot and retired as a 3 star Air Marshal.

[@wandererllama9535]

My father's coursemate was the first Sqn CO of the Trisonics (the IAF's MiG 25 sqn). Amazing anecdotes he has - including flying it at 100,000ft & at Mach 3

[@thethirdman225]

@Not Again Yes it did. The MiG-25 held all the time-to-altitude records until the F-15 took them and that included climbing over 100,000 ft (clean aircraft). There was nothing to actually stop a clean MiG-25 flying at Mach 3, other than engine limitations.

[@InsaneRecords997]

@Not Again when commentor himself is high 🤣

[@thethirdman225]

@Vat RW It doesn’t really matter. That poster was wrong and I notice he has deleted his (rather pointless) post. It’s fair to say that it didn’t “fly” at 100,000 ft in the accepted sense but it had been there at least in the ballistic sense. The OP’s claim is not unreasonable.

[@paristo]

@@thethirdman225 F-15 altitude record is 98,425 feet in 1975 and MiG-25 altitude record is 123,523 feet in 1977. Both are a peaks, performing a zoom climb at the altitude. The MiG-25 was as well first fighter in 1973 to climb over 115 000 ft. The F-15 record to 20 km is 122.94 seconds. The MiG-25 record to 20 km is 169.8 seconds. The difference is that MiG-25 did it from normal rolling take-off, where F-15 was strapped with special hook on the runway with full afterburners, and after release it was airborne 3 seconds after that, so that helped a lot to get a faster climb. And MiG-25 (as MiG-31) engines can accelerate well past the Mach 3.4 without any damages etc. The engines are not limitation for that, it is the old fallacy. The limitation to Mach 3.2 is that it is safest speed when MiG's air intake can withstand the speed. After the Mach 3.4 the air intake collapse becomes too high possibility. But same way SR-71 has a no-exceed Mach 3.4 limit so it is a moot which one is really a faster, as other is required to infiltrate the airspace, while other is required to intercept that infiltration and has a missiles to perform the intercept in +/- 200-50 km range from the infiltrator. Considering that MiG-25 purpose is to perform a interception, it is not to infiltrate an enemy airspace at long range, why it needs performance and longevity for its tasking to do the interception time after time. The window to interception is counted in seconds, pilot needs to be at given moment ready on the runway engines at max break limit, on command release breaks and take-off for exact heading and perform correct climb. As the interception window to get missile lock and guidance on estimated high speed bomber threat is about 15-20. In 30-40 seconds the target has already passed the engagement from interception. It is like trying to shoot a bullet with a another bullet from the side. Why these climb records and speed to it are slightly moot, as interceptor doesn't require just that, but very specific tasking to specific threat.

[@NiceRoadTrucker]

The mighty "Garuda"!

[@nibbles7178]

Great interview and what a lovely gentleman. Would love to have a beer with him and hear more of his stories. Agree with others that talking to an ex Mig 25 pilot is as rare as hens' teeth so thank you!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Really glad you enjoyed it :)

[@saifalik6226]

@@Aircrewinterview please can you interview more india airforce pilots specifically those involved in war 1965 war 1971 1999 war

[@nolanolivier6791]

'Russian aeroplanes do not have air conditioning below 6000ft...' Great bit of dry sarcasm there.

[@johnrusac6894]

Very hot, but it’s a dry sarcasm.

[@bertrandjean9460]

Thank you , during the cold war when I was in the french air force electronic warfare squadron I could hear the Foxbat taking off from east germany and climbing on the SR71 , each of them on their side of the border , but we never heard that they could confirm a potential shot ( training not real of course ) at the SR71 , neither their radar signals which we could also intercept were confirming it .These missions were performed either over the Baltic sea either along the iron curtain when the SR 71 turned back over Bavaria and flew again along the Iron Curtain .The surprising thing was that the air defence command of the Warsaw Pact located in Minsk at the time was already broadcasting ( HF frequency ) the navigation of the SR71 from the UK very shortly shortly after take off , we always suspected that the russians had someone near the airbase in Scotland communicating the start of the mission of the SR .

[@jamesrowlands8971]

This exact tactic was how the Serbs shot down the F-117. They had people near the airbase in Italy watching it take off for each sortie. And they contacted the battery that was pre-deployed on it's expected flight path.

[@thefrecklepuny]

Great interview. Thought I may have to watch this is two chunks. But watched it all the way through. Looks like the Indians used the MiG-25R as a 'mini' SR-71.

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

India has always used Russian aircraft with Western style tactics, and pretty effectively at that

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks mate.

[@mirandela777]

Mig-25 was way better than Sr71 - unlike SR71 who couldn't carry even a pistol , the Mig 25 could get missiles and / or cannon. But the main difference one was mass-produced with great safety record, the other was a prototype and a flying coffin, with 40% of all airframes build crashing/exploding/burning. The only slight advantage of the SR71 over Mig25 was a slightest bigger top speed on straight line, but the Mig25 could climb a lot faster, fly higher and was significantly more maneuverable ( SR71 could not even turn 180º at supersonic speed) .

[@samuelspratt9042]

Minimum after burner is not a phrase that you normally hear. Fantastic interview.

[@MattWoodsAus]

When it comes to the story of capturing the eclipse, the diamond ring Sumit is talking about is a phenomenon called the Bailey Beads. The moon isn't a perfect sphere and it has mountains and valleys, so just before totality you get this ring effect which is the light from the sun passing through valleys. Pretty spectacular to see them. It's also really important to study the Corona of the Sun as it's the atmosphere of the Sun and one of the stranger things is that it's actually hotter than the Sun's surface and we don't know why. It's only been recently with spacecraft like SOHO and the STEREO spacecrafts that we've been able to study the Sun's Corona without an eclipse. We've also been able to prove Einstein's Theory of Relativity that space and time are intertwined during the Total Solar Eclipse of 1922

[@Farweasel]

.... It being a well known scientific fact that space and time are not usually intertwined at all of course. *They just think they can get away with such conduct during Total Solar Eclipses because its dark and the astronomers won't notice and go grassing them up to the physicists*

[@theheretic6739]

So proud to know that India had the capability of the US SR71 due to the MiG25R in those days and age. That kind of recon capability hence belonged to only 3 nations back then, USA, India and Russia. The RuAF basically fielded their MiG25s to chase out SR71s which usually operated in 3.5 Mach envelope - the RuAF MiG25s gave a cover of upto 6 Mach - 2.85 of MiG25 with weapon load and 4 Mach for the air to air missile . So a lock would suffice. Service ceiling of the SR71 and the MiG25 were equal and the MiG25 probably flew higher without weapons. MiG25s cannot dogfight and neither was SR71 a combat aircraft. One was the interceptor and the other one was an intruder. India used MiG25's abilities to its best, flew past Mach 3 chasing the shadow of moon on Earth , which was hypersonic as it entered the shadow and photographed it before the shadow moved off . In air it was with the eclipse for 2 whole minutes. The Indian air force version of MiG25 was not Foxbat , its the Starburst. Bad name to this aircraft came from ofcourse the West Asian region where most good things turn out flop. Iraqi Air Force used MiG25 for dogfights I wonder why Russia even sold it to them, maybe because Iranian Tomcats were its primary opponents - but by the time of Gulf War MiG25 had to face F16s, F18s and F15s for which MiG29s and Su27s were meant. Anyway, the story of the Indian MiG25R is unmatched - just another small bit how India continued to flourish despite being rivalled by both rogue US ally and China on either side. 100,000 ft is a dizzying height.

[@ArijitBanerjee]

Another very nice interview in a series of mostly good ones. But Air Marshal Mukherjee stands out for his narration, humour and the in-depth knowledge of physics. The manner in which explained V:H ratio and the limitations of optics vis a vis atmospheric distortions and stuff… simply wonderful. Aircraft, especially military aircraft symbolise a pinnacle of design , a point where tech and physics come together. Notwithstanding their purpose, one has to appreciate design philosophies and available tech and the marriage between the two. Again, the specific gravity of fuels and the relation to flash points!!! Wow!

[@DJEDzTV]

The Russian aircraft interviews are my favorites, they are exotic in a way and its interesting how the Russians approached and solved similar aviation challenges.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoy them. Cheers

[@colinrickatson6320]

been looking forward to hearing about the MIG-25 bit of the interview :D

[@Aircrewinterview]

Hope you enjoyed it buddy.

[@jamesrowlands8971]

I loved the bit about ejecting at 20km in -90c air. That would've been such a terrifying prospect. And you'd be wanting to get down in altitude so you didn't freeze to death. But 6km is not even high enough for some parts of India. :|

[@peyiots]

What a pleasant and charming gentleman of the old school

[@Farweasel]

Sumit's enthusiasm for the MIG 21 has me scratching my head and wondering if I should revise my view significantly upward. After the Israelis tore Egypts MIG 21 fleet apart so effectively in the Yom Kippur war I had assumed, hellish good 'though the IDF flyers are, the MIG 21 must simply have been utterly outclassed for it to become almost a Turkey shoot. Now I wonder is that too simplistic?

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

MiG 21s did phenomenally good in the hands of Indians during 1971 war

[@foxtrotwhiskey874]

@@dragonstormdipro1013 yet got shot down by a 195os korean war era PAF F-86 Sabre.

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

@@foxtrotwhiskey874 A 60s era SA2 shot down a F117. Doesn’t mean the F117 is bad.

[@someoneelse9271]

I’m getting strong guitar player vibes from this gentleman. Do I spy a Suhr headstock above his right shoulder🤘👍

[@sbkarajan]

1:23:16 I believe Mr. Mukerji. Russians make the best airplanes!!!

[@TheGooj]

Thanks! Been waiting a long time for this episode and it was to no disappointed in the end. What a genuine good fella sharing his story.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@nidgem7171]

Such a genuine bloke ....... And *to have been the guy to enable that incredible eclipse starburst* Who could hope to achieve such a wonderful once in a lifetime thing?

[@KRGruner]

Ah, yes, this is the good stuff! All his videos were great, but this one... I mean: MiG-25!!!

[@matthayward7889]

Absolutely this ⬆️

[@KRGruner]

@Not Again It was overhyped to some extent (especially the fighter versions), but certainly not junk! It was an extraordinary aircraft for its time. And it did shoot down an F/A-18 in Desert Storm!

[@davidsmith8997]

@@KRGruner Absolutely Karl. From what the F-15 pilots in DS said, the best pilots flew the -25, not the -29. We got a teaser about the engines above Mach 3.0, but not a real answer if they could do it and land ((Belenko said they couldn't). The Mig-25 was an absolute beast. One of the few things that might be able to run down a -111? And he flew so many different types too, -21, -23, -25, -27, -29, Su-30, Mi-2000. Wow.

[@KRGruner]

@@davidsmith8997 Yes. As to MiG-25 vs F-111 speed, my take is at high altitude the MiG would take it, but at low altitude (on the deck), the F-111 would win, maybe not by much. But just a guess. Not much data on MiG-25 at low altitude.

[@davidsmith8997]

@@KRGruner Thanks for the reply Karl! It would seem, to me at least, to be a match between the really clean airframe of the -111 versus the brute power of the -25. I definitely don't know either. I just know that the only reports of proficient A-A engagements in DS came against Mig-25 pilots. So I suspect that it's a capable interceptor. But here again, I wish Sumit had more questions as I recall (for what that's worth)Belenko saying the -25 didn't have look-down, shoot-down capability but Sumit implied they did. Maybe a later upgrade? Karl, I thought it was eerie and weird (and Sumit said it was lonely) that no one spoke to the -25s until they were landing. How would you feel about taxing, taking off, and flying all without any communication? Without giving any operational info, would NATO have ever done anything that in the 80s and 90s (maybe -117s)?

[@hotlanta35]

Mig 25 still has many legends surrounding it

[@aikrassin]

Fascinating interview, amazing aircraft, classy guy. Loved it!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thanks you!

[@vikramsinhdantkale8525]

My god! This is so inspirational!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

Mig 25, was never as much an engineering marvel as SR71 was. But the Foxbat played a beyond crucial role during Kargil war. And that is the one thing it will always have over SR71...it’s a war-winning machine. SR71 could never claim that title.

[@Chris-wf2lr]

Yeah, I like the mig 25 because it was so built for purpose. It had good radar but only for high altitude targets and was very fast to incept , find and destroy high altitude bombers which was America’s tactic at the time (not low altitude stealth that they moved to later) and was designed to be produced in quite high numbers because Russia is a big country to cover. Their design just makes sense in the context that they were produced.

[@rosenchowdhury66]

I think SR-71 has been used in almost all modern day conflict zone till it's retirement , starting from Vietnam war, first Gulf war, Arab Israeli wars name it . Yah have to agree like the mig-25 also .

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

@@rosenchowdhury66 Do you have proof of it’s use in these conflicts? Specially Gulf war?

[@rosenchowdhury66]

@@dragonstormdipro1013 Yes most likely it missed the gulf war by few months but it's absence was felt by the Bear (i guess you know him) . For the other missions search the net . After reading I guess you will agree the SR-71 prevented the WW3 taking place.

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

@@rosenchowdhury66 Ohh I don’t doubt that. SR71 was pivotal at maintaining peace. Absolute beauty of a plane.

[@festol1]

Great history telling from Mr Mukerji. Such a privilege being an aviaton in India and in such a unique aircraft!

[@tatoloco4]

Awesome interview with a highly accomplshed and experienced fighter pilot .......really enjoyed his descriptions. Thanks Mike 😀

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@marauders9554]

Really great interview!! Time spent well got to learn some new things. A really great gentlemen Sumit Mukherjee is .More Interviews expected especially from Indian Pilots.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thank you!

[@JoshuaC923]

What a fascinating interview, the missions, the eclipse and the stories with the raf chief

[@evanfinch4987]

Thanks Sumit for sharing your story on this beast plane.

[@juhopuhakka2351]

Thank you for your service Mr Sumit Mukerji!Semper Fi brother!

Very interesting and nice gentelman. Remindes me a bit of two interview partners I had recently. The experienced a lot and had a lot of fund doing it. Thats why the have a lot to tell and thats why they have that knowing grin on their face :)

[@alangerrard7973]

great interview.

[@B1900pilot]

Fascinating interview! Very nice gentleman too…

[@foxbat2130]

Absolutely Stunning Interview of my Favourite AIRCRAFT. THE FoxBat Mig 25 Garuda. ❤. Great great input. Loved every bit of it

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@ryantoole2327]

Wonderful interview - and the gentleman being interviewed is a great orator.

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@hotrat79]

superb, proud feelings

[@finixhawkeye3213]

1:27;37.... If I had the chance I would have said the Mig29. One Last Flight Has to be a Aerobatic & Supersonic Retirement ♥️

[@clives344]

Amazing Interview Thankyou

[@Aircrewinterview]

Thank you

[@davidsmith8997]

I'll start with a negative for Sumit's interview. In a few cases, he took too long telling minor parts or going over details repeatedly. It made the interview longer than it needed to be. Which is my only complaint because I could otherwise listen to him for hours. His experience is amazing. His stories were excellent. His knowledge was superb. Honestly, one of the better interviews you've ever done for sure and that's saying a lot considering the superb interviews you've done over the years. Thanks to both of you!

[@beryanbeyaan8047]

He's an old man ,give him a break. For his age hes spoken very well ,clear and concise.

[@davidsmith8997]

@@beryanbeyaan8047 I think that on balance, my comment was pretty positive. I certainly meant no serious offense for someone who, as I said, I really enjoyed listening to.

[@beryanbeyaan8047]

@@davidsmith8997 👍👍

[@1joshjosh1]

Fascinating stuff to listen to this.

[@Ahfb72]

There were incidents of an IAF Mig 25 deliberately creating sonic booms over Pakistan airspace just to rub it in a bit... wish he could have said something about that...

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

Pretty sure that's a myth, cause if they flew in afterburner all the time then there's no way they are gonna create a Sonic boom over Pakistan.

[@foxtrotwhiskey874]

leave it to indians to make a mountain out of a molehill.

[@1rudrakshsharma]

@@dragonstormdipro1013its not a myth, pakis acknowledged it.

[@duncs001]

very very interesting

[@Aircrewinterview]

Cheers

[@prosenjitmukherjee9654]

fascinating !!

[@Aircrewinterview]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@prosenjitmukherjee9654]

@@Aircrewinterview absolutely , thank you !!looking fwd to hear some dogfight stories on the channel 🤘

[@philipbrown2628]

Nice one sumit, I fly an rv9

[@Farweasel]

I guess you would pip Sumit's MIG 25 on endurance (though not range) still *IF I HAD to chose which one to get a ride in* , nice as the rv9 is .............

[@philipbrown2628]

Ha ! Rv9 cheaper to run too !

[@bill-nn1vp]

our privelage..:)

[@bill-nn1vp]

interesting!!!

[@Maidenize666]

Sadly you forgot to ask about breaking the sound barrier over Karachi airspace incident😢

[@leonswan6733]

Good interview, awesome jet the MIG-25. I wish the U.S. had not played cheap and made a limited number of Mach 3 capable North American Aviation F-108 Rapiers. I bet the MiG 25 would of been barbaric compared to them. Would of loved to hear of a race between the F-108s and the MIG-25s. The Israeli government would of loved some F-108s to chase out MIG-25RBs from Egypt and Syria out there airspace in the mid 70s. They just out ran the F-4 Phantoms that went up to intercept them.

[@jackaubrey8614]

The Egyptian Air Force stopped MIG 25 overflights of Saudi Arabia when the Saudi's started operating BAC Lightnings.....

[@leonswan6733]

@@jackaubrey8614 Yep LOL... I believe that. That BAC Lightning is fast too. I saw a interview on here that they used the Concorde coming out from the Barent Sea to the DEW line to simulate Mach 2+ soviet Bomber coming from the CCCP. The lightning was fast enough to intercept it. The FGR4 ( F-4 Phantom ) should be able to do it too i guess...

[@wiesenbefeuchter]

How did they navigate it ? Was there an INS ? And if yes, how accurate was it ?

[@aviovintage]

There was, he mentions it a few times. First gen INS that took 45 minutes to level.

[@wiesenbefeuchter]

@@aviovintage And how accurate ?

[@wiesenbefeuchter]

@@TD-qh6yu Did the Indian ones have the bombing ability ?

[@wiesenbefeuchter]

@@TD-qh6yu What sense made it then ?

[@wiesenbefeuchter]

What's the yellow button on the stick's top for ?

[@1joshjosh1]

So the camera was huge and heavy but very good. Just like my last girlfriend. 😃

[@kiranthakkar5288]

2.8 mark off speed that means it was a 3000 km speed sir

[@maotseovich1347]

Doesn't 100k feet make him an astronaut by the American definition?

[@xyzaero]

US military and FAA definition makes you an astronaut if you flew above 80km.

[@Farweasel]

@@xyzaero So he's 5ft 6in *AND 1.25 Astronauts* - That well beyond cool 😜

[@xyzaero]

@@Farweasel 80 Kilometers that’s like 260.000 feet so he is a 0.25 Astronaut.

[@Farweasel]

@@xyzaero 'In the United States ..... who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (80 km) are awarded astronaut wings'. (wikipedia)

[@xyzaero]

Very interesting interview. Not the standard US or UK fighter bla bla bla interview.

[@briancrawford69]

India should start buying more from the west. The Russian equipment has shown not to be up to par and Russia is shady about sending back up parts or maintenance

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

India has been gradually leaving Russian stuff for years. The imports has been steadily decreasing from the last few years. It fell down 21% in the period 2012-2018.

[@iatsd]

India has been buying things from all over the world since it became independent. What it DOESN'T do much of is buy from the US. And the reason for *that* is very simple: the US only sells crap versions of it's equipment to other (non-white) countries. That and when they've fought the Pakistanis who *do* use US-built equipment, the Indians have usually kicked the shit out of them. There's very little US equipment that is world class *that the US will sell to other countries*

[@briancrawford69]

@@iatsd lmao other non white nations would disagree and plenty of nations have F35s. Russia sells lower versions for export as well. But yea India keep buying those sweet used Russian ships that break down or they just go back on the deal lol

[@djmoh.6509]

No we will build our own. Multiple projects are going on like - TEDBF AMCA Tejas mk2 MMH

[@briancrawford69]

@@djmoh.6509 I'm well aware of what they're building and some of it is good stuff but others you would definitely be better buying from the US. Especially since we're allies

[@briancrawford69]

All that power and could still never vat6the SR71

[@beryanbeyaan8047]

yeah..whatever

[@briancrawford69]

@@beryanbeyaan8047 no whatever about it, it's a well known fact

[@dragonstormdipro1013]

@@briancrawford69 SR71 is a better plane. Ironic that India used the MiG 25 as almost in the same role as SR71, and got excellent results with it.

[@aarujtripathi]

Who is comparing both of them tho?

[@bobbyguns100]

How crazy it’s must be to have to shoot your own people out of the sky. Basically this guy is older than the country he was fighting . I am sure it felt weird as Pakistanis were Indians till the 1950”s

[@deathisabe]

200 litres of alcohol with a convenient tap🤣 gotta love em ruskies