Stolen MiG-25

[@richardmoore609]

Wife: i need you to sign the divorce paper's Me a MIG-25 pilot: right after work

[@andrewsiefker70]

HunterDevastator careful man. Some guy got butthurt on my comment. Apparently humor is secure.

[@slappy8941]

Sign the divorce paper's what?

[@name5798]

@@slappy8941 the marriage you idoit

[@harrickvharrick3957]

@@name5798you are the idiot, dude

[@Gromitdog1]

@@harrickvharrick3957 Hug it out you two.

[@hausmeisterengineering5952]

"equipment missing" i guess the stereo in the mig was pretty good.

[@badmutherfunster]

And the Americans possibly stole the fluffy dice from the cockpit canopy 😂

[@lookronjon]

It was the half bottle of vodka that they put in every POS thing they make.

[@juliogonzo2718]

Change in the ashtray was also missing

[@shaider1982]

Probably uses vacuum tubes making it possible to use after EMP from a nuke🤣👍

[@Malaveldt]

The Americans swiped their Foghat 8-track.

[@ryanryan439]

Engines that quote “Suck in air to help burn fuel” must be a soviet secret, I’ve never heard of such technology

[@curryking8002]

Ryan Ryan extremely innovative

[@richardputz3233]

Ryan Ryan. Your correct it must be brand new. I would suspect something Greekish.

[@Mattorrr]

You guys are missing the point. It wasn’t until 1903 that the first airplane even took flight. The first jet propulsion engine was invented in 1939 and it was 1967 when the mig25 was created. So considering they were installing jet engines for airplanes only 30 years after they were thought of is pretty amazing. Cellphones are commonplace everyday items now. The first consumer cellphone was created in 1983 and cost $4,000. 30 years later it’s a common item that everyone has and we don’t think about how 30, even 20 years ago we had to call people from a cabled phone inside of your house. No email not text no nothing.

[@mikeb.5039]

Check out the SR-71 engine devlopement

[@mikeb.5039]

@David Sherbert the material I have is pre 90's from authors like the late Bill Gunston

[@Lion_lamb]

Wooooooooooow..."Hey UPS, how much to ship my MiG-25 back to Russia?" UPS: $40,000 next day air sir.

[@Bartonovich52]

Should have got Amazon Prime.

[@solomonarbc]

UPS: "What's the value of the crates?" Japan: "$40 millions ..." UPS: "That'll be a hefty insurance" Japan: "400 thousand USD, okay?"

[@archlich4489]

5,000 same-day drone deliveries.

[@rzr2ffe325]

Amazon wasn’t even selling books then lol

[@SpiraSpiraSpira]

Thats relly reasonable. I can't imagine how much it would cost to ship 20 tons today

[@MrChispa06]

Happy to report as of 2020, Viktor Belenko is still alive in the U.S living a happy life with 2 new children as well as reuniting with his first after the collapse of the USSR.

[@RandoUploader3]

What a chad.

[@Trollofjom69]

Are..are you him?

[@DavidGarcia-kw4sf]

Great book on the subject "Mig Pilot" by John Daniel Barron.

[@dreamingflurry2729]

Hope his - first - wife didn't get him to pay the backlog in child-support (He would be broke probably!)!

[@anuvisraa5786]

that traitor shit

[@Kj16V]

And now the obligatory "In Soviet Russia" joke: In Soviet Russia, fuel burns engine.

[@My_Alchemical_Romance]

Kj16V you had to, you had no choice

[@Vikingdescendent]

Engine is fuel!

[@asmillingchihuahua9858]

What are you talking about? Didn't fuel always burn engines?

[@terrywest111]

You, Sir win the Internet.

[@davereagles7379]

Nope... still the top comment!

[@rifleshooterchannel208]

A plane so good, it uses pieces of its own engine for fuel.

[@Aikidophile]

FINALLY someone who ACTUALLY knows what he's talking about.

[@MarighnamaniMr]

Also Alcohol. MiG-25 used distilled vodka as a cooling system for the engines. MiG-25 was also called "The Flying Bar" along with its NATO name "Foxbat". After every sortie, the pilots would take the vodka out from the fuel tanks and drink it lol.

[@rifleshooterchannel208]

Marighnamani Kant Singh That’s awesome 😂

[@SuperCookiemonser]

@@MarighnamaniMr A lot of early soviet planes had that. The MiG 21s radar was Alcohol cooled as well. Was not Vodka, but a very pure alcohol, 95% afaik. It was locked away because personel would drink it. Sometimes they even tampered with flight logs and took a bit of the alcohol from the radar.

[@SnizelOfficial]

@ninjarawr21 Stop throwing tantrum then.

[@PaulLemars01]

One of the reasons that military intelligence was so spooked by the Mig 25 was that everybody thought it was constructed out of Titanium because the Russians were sitting on the world supply of the metal and that would explain how it flew so fast. Nobody considered that the Soviets would make it out of steel because that would be too damn heavy and it would fly like a pig. That was the big revelation of the Belenko incident. You might want to do a video about how Lockheed set up shell corporations to purchased the Titanium for the SR71 from the Soviet Union. I seem to remember it was something to do with baseball bats.

[@sundhaug92]

In re Lockheed, it was IIRC the CIA that set up the shell-corps

[@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts]

sundhaug92 Jalopnik did a cool article about it, iirc, the F-15 was built out of titanium because of what they expected from the mig-25.

[@oscarb9139]

“Skunkworks”. Great book. U2, SR-71, And F117 story.

[@JonnyRicter]

The weight of the steel really wasn't the issue. When aircraft travel Mach 2.7 and above, the friction between the aircraft and the air makes the aircraft so hot, that steel's structural integrity becomes compromised. Since titanium can endure much higher temperatures, it's the preferred alloy for extremely fast aircraft. *EDIT: while writing this, I was responding by mentioning steel but thinking aluminum. No planes are made of steel, it's aluminum. Lol*

[@notforsale5967]

No TI is very common and can be found in USA Canada Australia to name a few.

[@beefs0ck911]

“Let’s give two cruise missile engines a pilot and some wings.” “Ight lets do it”

[@ChrisSmith-tj2sf]

Yeah, twenty years after we did the same thing to the F-104!

[@anatolilukanov7675]

@@ChrisSmith-tj2sf I mean the soviets made the BI before the US made the f104 so the f104 was nothing new

[@TheGryxter]

Way back in the day I read the book "Mig Pilot" by Belenko. What an amazing story. The part about how an officer in the most top secret plane of the time was delegated (with the rest of the base personnel) to pick potatoes so they wouldn't rot in the field, gives you a stark reality of how these guys were treated. The barracks had a huge cable wrapped around the building so it wouldn't fall apart! That was because some of the concrete intended for use on the building was sold on the black market. So they just added more sand! He had to duck under this "I" beam to cross the room. And the stories of how he thought the American CIA guys were lying when they took him to a supermarket and said that they are all like this. "You mean American's don't have to wait 6 hours in line for meat that is spoiled?" What a great book. Note: It has been years since I read this, and my memory may be a tad off on some of the finer points, but the gist is correct.

[@josephdonnelly2663]

I've read that book. Belenko had at first a difficult time adjusting to life in America. Great and informative book!

[@charlesmeaux3954]

@@josephdonnelly2663 Imagine if the North Koreans could get even a small taste and idea of what life is like in the western world? How long do you think it would take to overthrow the government there?

[@CGJ7755]

They still rotted in the field because of bad planning. He grew to hate communism, as he well should, and was willing to sacrifice everything just to damage it

[@NEOSCISSORSJAGUARPRIME]

​@@charlesmeaux3954 I WISH THE COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES WOULD GET TO READ THIS, SO THAT THEY WILL NOT JOIN FOOLISH LEFTIST ORGANIZATIONS AND LOSE THEIR LIVES IN USELESS MILITARY ENCOUNTERS

[@nullterm]

"to this day, neither bill has been paid." Perfect note to end on.

[@notoriousbills]

So petty lmao

[@thefloridamanofytcomments5264]

Imagine working the White House switchboard for decades and getting Russian collections agencies trying to leave threatening voicemails for the government 😂😂😂

[@jonnyreverb]

Agreed

[@user-lv1wn5wq7n]

I like jimmy carter

[@csn6234]

"In Mother Russia, you don't pay for stolen jet. Stolen jet pays you."

[@bchuntfish]

This takes the old method of "I'm just running out for a pack of smokes" to a whole new level!!

[@davidwestbendwi9308]

Never heard the part about the bill for the shipping & runway damage & the Russians replying with a bill of $10M.. That's a great story!!

[@mileshigh1321]

I laughed when he said it was returned with certain pieces missing!

[@JavierCR25]

That’s pure gold over there

[@Grieche-i8y]

What was the $10 million dollar bill for?

[@caleb7631]

@@Grieche-i8y I'm assuming for the missing equipment.

[@tieck4408]

I've learned to click even when I know the story already.

[@BradiKal61]

I was an Air Force brat living in Japan when the stolen Mig 25 landed. It was the talk of the town more for the embarrassment to the USSR than for what technology it might have. It was pretty much accepted that the Soviets used less finesse and more brute force when it came to their military hardware. Turned out the Foxbat was a big heavy plane with big engines and a lot of practical choices in its building but not much to learn from in terms of cutting edge technology.

[@noobgamer_x98]

u sure?

[@jessielee1369]

The 2 planes shown when describing F-4 phantoms were F-111s. Dont get me wrong, I enjoyed the video. I wasn't trying to be critical; just made an observation.

[@aaronkruse1623]

I enjoy these videos, but I wish little goofs like that weren't so common.

[@notworldwarthunder2035]

Try finding a video of 2 f4 phantoms, don’t get upset because he only found f111

[@bvanwart]

@@aaronkruse1623 yeah the little goof totally ruined the otherwise well curated, factual and entertaining video - totally ruined, unwatchable, unsubscribe.

[@nullterm]

And a MiG-31 here and there.

[@diggingattycho7908]

I don't know about today, back when I was in school such a mismatch of info would have been a mark down. This kind of screw up is common, in old movies and tv shows you see a sorts of footage substituted. Today I would call it sloppy, there is little excuse for not finding free to use footage of what your looking for.

[@Exodon2020]

That thing has "High Altitude Interceptor" written all over it.

[@kimweaver3323]

It was designed as a response to the XB-70 Valkyrie.

[@roenero7242]

kim weaver More like the U2 and SR-71

[@eatfastnoodle]

exactly, the fact that so many professionals thought it's a fighter spoke volume of how little both sides understood each other during the cold war (sure it'd also because vested interests in the military-industry complex wants a big spooky almost alien-technology soviet fighter so that they could get more funding, just like the whole bomber gap/missile gap of previous generations), never mind Soviet Union was never big into air force as the main source of military power and soviet's size and geography meant it could only defend its airspace with super fast interceptors that could sprint to certain locations of the country and fire long rang AA missile at approaching target, be it nuclear bomber or spy plane.

[@foreal69tu50]

The F14 and F15 got their air frame design from the mig 29

[@Fenncer24]

That I correct. The Mig-25 Foxbat was designed to Intercept the XB-70 Valkyrie and B-58 Hustler. It was never intended to be used for Dogfighting, though the Syrians lost at least 2 to Isreali F-15 Eagles during the early to mid 1980's. Iraq lost I believe 2 during the First Gulf War, again to this time American Air Force F-15 Eagles. Just as stated nothing but a straight line Interceptor. Thrusters at full, just don't ROAST the Engines. Thank you.

[@gregoryhughes]

The Lockheed A-12 flew in 1962, so I take slight issue with the video saying that Mach 3 was a barrier the US was struggling with but the Soviet’s were suited to. I realize that’s just meaningless editorializing, but that seems pretty inaccurate.

[@k.h.1587]

@Somarik Green 3 yf12 interceptors were built and successfully test fired missiles before the program was cancelled by the air force. I think those missiles ended up being the basis of the design of the f14s Phoenix missle (originally intended for the cancelled f111b naval interceptor.

[@gregoryhughes]

Erich Klein Don’t mind the nitpick at all. That’s something I didn’t know

[@RJT80]

@Somarik Green We now that the US knew quite a bit about the MIG 25 during development and long before the defection, due to spies. Speed like this applies almost solely to the interceptor and recon role. The way you actually address that is by devloping new bombers, air superiority fighters, and even faster recon aircraft. Which is what the US did. The US never needed an interceptor like that because Russian bombers were nowhere near the threat that US bombers were to the Soviets. But the US was dominating air speed and altitude records since the late 40s and certainly could have built something like this had they needed it.

[@nowthatsfunny1]

The public didnt know about the A-12's because they were top secret planes flown by the CIA so they wouldn't have know about a plane capable of that speed. The A-12 wasn't even declassified until 1988 I believe.

[@franksmith6683]

@ Check your facts, as the Mig 25 was the first aircraft togo higher than 115,000 feet (officially in space) and holds the official altitude record for a manned air breathing jet, set in 1977 of 123,520 feet. It also carried a 1000kg payload to 115,584 feet (that's a small car into space!). Stainless steel is much stronger than aluminum and therefore can be much thinner so the weight penalty is no so great. Stainless steel isn't so bad after all...

[@thegoodkindofsimp7417]

5:18 imagine getting dispatched to find an unidentified fighter plane just to see it disappear and not know where it is or how close it is to you

[@deadeye4520]

The MiG 25 was a huge leap in capability, even if it didn't live up to western expectations.

[@jeffreysean2110]

We returned the plane without a full tank of fuel. That's what pissed them off.

[@joevignolor4u949]

Sort of like Hertz and Avis.

[@angiekempfer2105]

spark plugs were shot too!

[@rzr2ffe325]

Not quite. It was returned in pieces. Missing a lot more than just fuel. Which was almost pure alcohol btw

[@jeffreysean2110]

@@rzr2ffe325 Pretty sure jet fuel is kerosene based but I don't care.

[@DFX2KX]

@@jeffreysean2110 Certain russian aircraft flew on a kersoene alcohol mix IIRC. Which would explain the short range despite being a flying gas tank, but I'm pretty sure it was just regular old aviation kerosene with perhaps alcohol/water injection for the reheat.

[@SocialistDistancing]

I can remember when this happened. It was all over the news and in the newspapers. This plane was a huge mysterious thing. I wanted to see what it looked like but in 1976, all you got was a grainy Black and White picture in the paper and fleeting glimpse on TV. It was a really big thing for a Soviet pilot to defect and bring a top secret aircraft. I remember thinking, why the hell did he go to Japan. I didn't have a clue about the logistics of a wagon back then. It was the cold war and the Russians were feared and Nobody ever defected from the Soviet Union. It was huge news.

[@thevoxofreason8468]

When I was in high school (a long time back...I'm GenX) I read the book, "Mig Pilot". It was about the Mig 25 that landed in Japan. Loved it. To read Viktor's story about life in the Soviet Union, his experience as a pilot and his subsequent defection was truly enlightening and exciting for a young person. It started my fascination with Soviet aircraft. At the time, most models were still very alien to the west. What stuck in my mind about the Mig 25 was: *it couldn't turn inside an F-4 *it still used vacuum tubes instead of transistors *it's extremely limited range

[@andrewsiefker70]

The Japanese:“Were gonna bill you for damages to our airfield and the shipping cost of the aircraft” Russians:”were gonna bill you for our aircraft” Maybes the funniest and biggest game of no u ever.

[@andrewsiefker70]

tvercetti1 thats what the entire cold war was. Just a big game of no u

[@andrewsiefker70]

tvercetti1 and the jokes are obviously going over your head.

[@andrewsiefker70]

tvercetti1 but your the guy that came to my comment screaming “aCuAlLy” 4 other people see it as a joke.

[@andrewsiefker70]

tvercetti1 but are we dead? Did the nukes start flying? You’ve never been to shot at either and lucky where im stationed neither have i. So agin take it as it is. A JOKE.

[@andrewsiefker70]

tvercetti1 so why the actual fuck did you come here to spew a pointless opinion that i clearly didnt ask for? Pull the stick outta your ass dude. Go back to playing arma.

[@mikeb.5039]

The funny thing is the MIG-25 was built for a threat that never materialized, the B-70 Valkyrie and F-108 Rapier. The F-15 on the other hand, it's development can be traced from lessons learned from the Vietnam air war, countering the MIG-25 came later.

[@thetopsecretpentagonsclass6350]

You got Points! Dude!.

[@GneissShorts]

Him: “The leap from Mach 2 to Mach 3 had proven too enormous for the Americans” Me: *A-12 noises*

[@jkhsdjkhfjkhh3]

This might be the best video I've seen on Dark Docs yet.

[@AdmiralPureBlood]

I love darkdocs this is a great channel way underrated and under subbed

[@Braeden123698745]

I think a name change would make it seem less... conspiratorial.

[@Cj-gd1db]

I totally agree. And they shouldn’t change the name.

[@JoeBissell]

i hate to admit this but i just subbed now and i've been watching these videos for years

[@Cj-gd1db]

Joe c’mon man get on the ball

[@sphinxrising1129]

Maybe if he would report on something that's not 30+ years old & not try so hard to over dramatize mundane shit like he's some poor man's Jack Webb, he might get more subs, lol.

[@383mazda]

This all started when the Soviets made a missile that shot down the U2, so the USA made a plane that could just outrun the missiles: the SR-71. Then the Soviets tried to make a plane to shoot down the SR-71: the Mig 25. The USA thinks the Foxbat is a super plane, so they develop their own super plane: the F-15. USA then realizes the Mig wasn't that great, and ends up with an airplane that ruled the skies for decades.

[@TheStig_TG]

383mazda F-15 is still awesome

[@cxvghf93387u]

Big win for the US... and the F15 with a Decepticon insignia is the most famous one!

[@otyliciu]

Wrong on every count: the MiG-25 was not built in response to the SR-71, it was built in response to the XB-70. The SR-71 was not even yet on the drawing board and, even when it finally emerged, it only numbered thirty two - over a third of which were lost in accidents. The maintenance/turn around time of the SR-71 was so great that each surviving aircraft could only fly about once per week. When the surviving aircraft flew, their flights just beyond the edge of Soviet airspace (flying high to capture the greatest 'wide angle' view) were hardly sufficient to justify any radical/expensive response. The U-2 lost was shot down over Russia, catching America in a blatant treaty violation - something it was not willing to risk again during peacetime. As a purebred bomber interceptor, the MiG-25 was and largely remains unprecedented - still holding world speed and altitude records. Its lacking agility, largely the result of heavy steel construction, was not due to a lack of Soviet technology but to deliberate design compromises the Soviets made taking into account the cost of titanium. These compromises allowed them to produce nearly 1,200 MiG-25 compared to barely thirty SR-71, only around twenty of which survived. Upon first 'observing' the MiG-25 in satellite imagery and Soviet aviation parades, the West mistakenly assumed it to be a high agility air superiority fighter on account of its broad wing area (wing area creating more lift, allowing steeper bank while holding altitude and, therein, supposedly greater agility). They did not then-understand that the wing area was necessary compensation for the MiG-25's heavy steel construction and, in actuality, the aircraft was a purebred interceptor with speed, altitude, and time to altitude emphasized at the expense of every other performance attribute. In response, the U.S. began to develop the F-15: not in response to the type of aircraft the MiG-25 was but in response to the type of aircraft they 'thought' it was meant to be. Prior to the F-15, the West did not itself possess a high agility BVR aircraft. Even with the F-15, however, the U.S. was unable to intercept the famous quartet of Iraqi MiG-25 that violated the U.N. no fly zone with impunity between the Iraq wars, evading literally hundreds of attempts to shoot them down. Literally every MiG-25 lost in combat has been lost while slow and close to the ground (many, in the Iran-Iraq War, on final approach to their bases) - not one has been lost while operating near the limits of its performance in speed, rate of climb, and altitude.

[@rzr2ffe325]

And cost taxpayers a fortune

[@realMaverickBuckley]

@@otyliciu I guess we only need look to which country became the most dominant in the world and which collapsed to become on Oligarchal hh with half the GDP of Germany. Or which of the 2 aircraft 'won' at its task. The SR71 or the MiG-25.

[@SuperCookiemonser]

Belenko also mentioned that the soviets were working on an improved version too, this plane would later become the MiG 25PD.

[@k.h.1587]

Thought it was The mig31

[@SuperCookiemonser]

@@k.h.1587 The MiG 31 came after the 25, the MiG 25 had multiple variants. The PD being the interceptor version.

[@k.h.1587]

@@SuperCookiemonser mig25 was an interceptor from the beginning, by the time belenko defected the 31 was in development and the "super foxbat with look down shoot down radar" he mentioned turned out to be the mig31, which is basically the same plane updated.

[@SuperCookiemonser]

@@k.h.1587 Yes,the MiG 31 is the successor of the 25 but the PD was the updated interceptor version, the P was the base version. Bomber and recconisance versions were developed too.

[@SuperCookiemonser]

@Danzo Shimura Correct.

[@QuintonMurdock]

I hoped the mig would be at a museum in America or japan. I kinda wanted to see it

[@saml7610]

When you said Belenko was intercepted by F-4's, but you showed footage of F-111's. Just figured that was worth mentioning in case you thought those were F-4's.

[@jeffreysean2110]

And then they show a U.S. flag with 48 stars right before they mention Jimmy Carter

[@billmartin1010]

And at least 40% of the Soviet MiG25 airplane clips weren't MiG25's. Some weren't even MiGs!

[@ericwoytasek269]

"In 1975 the technological leap to take an aircraft from Mach 2 to Mach 3 had proved to difficult for the west to achieve" In 1963 the A-12 (AKA Black Bird) flew at Mach 3.35. 12 years before the Mig 25 did. This was its official top speed. Actual top speed is still classified and rumored to be closer to Mach 4.1.

[@sundhaug92]

The A-12 is not the Blackbird, you're thinking of its close relative the SR-71

[@ericwoytasek269]

Yes, I believe they were all upgrades and variants of the original Oxcart design.

[@norcallump4857]

Habu could not get close to Mach 4.1. The engines would overheat and pilots had to fly certain parameters. This was mainly 3.2/3.3 Mach.

[@startingbark0356]

Mig-25 is only 2 years younger then A-12/Sr-71 tho

[@Channel4029]

I remember at the time being told that large parts of the plane were dismantled, analyzed, and then put back together. Almost. Which is why parts were in crates and some were missing. They weren't actually missing. US intelligence knew exactly where they were!

[@jimbobaggans1564]

There is more about Victor Balenko, once he came to the United States. Apparently he got a ton of speeding tickets. Got in a few fights. He blended in very well. A regular American. He offered to go back into the Soviet Union and steal another plane. To give Soviet Union the big finger. He is quite a character. He was discouraged from going to the Soviet Union because if he was caught they would make him hate life. In fact the United States told him to be careful because the Soviet Union could send someone into the United States and put a bullet in him. In time he settled down. I would love to know what he is doing now.

[@tomryner5830]

And then there was the SAAB J-37 Viggen... A safe, highly technological and very fast Allround fighter. The Mig 25 was fast but that's it. It was big and needed a huge airfield.

[@eyeson6113]

I have flown a fox bat. In 1993, I went to Moscow and went to 74k feet and M2.5. The company that arranged it was called MIgs etc. We burned 9000 pounds of fuel in 7 minutes climbing to 74 k. The windscreen was so hot you couldn't hold your hand on it from the friction of the air. I flew a mig 21, L39 four times, and a Su27. The whole trip was about 23 grand. It didn't suck.

[@taunteratwill1787]

The Japanese should have waited sending the plane back until the 40.000$ was payed. :-))

[@kdids]

My grandfather worked for the CN Railway as an Expressman in the 40s, 50s and early 60s. I don't recall when he said and frankly he probably forgot himself what year it would have been, but he told me a story few times about how once a Mig crashed in the far north and it ended up getting put into a few CN boxcars and got shipped down to the states. He said he remembered the security around that train being insane because of it being such high importance to American and Canadian national security.

[@josephastier7421]

8:46 "Furthermore, as the airplane went above Mach 2.8, the immense force exerted by the compressors could potentially turn the engines inside-out". I haven't laughed that hard all week.

[@robertmaybeth3434]

Dark Docs is one of the coolest youtubes... I love the narration and the terse way it's written. Neat.

[@viktorbabay2905]

9 мировых рекордов, принадлежащих МиГ-25, до сих пор (2019) никто не улучшил!

[@rtz549]

This is my favorite Dark Docs.

9:10 “tracked in 1971” 1973. You got it right the first time.

[@RivetGardener]

This was an amazing story in the mid 1970's. The plane turned out to be a dud with exposed rivets, iron panels and bad construction. Poor maintenance was a factor as well according to Viktor Belenchko, the pilot. He was impressed with the US grocery stores that had so much food 24/7 unlike Russia. At first he thought the stores were a fake generated for him. Hope your Witness Protection PLan is treating you well, Viktor Belenchko!

[@Robsay01]

Japan: we want $40 grand Russia: we want $10 million US: we got what we need

[@h31212]

Dark Docs 2:16 "The entire famous mig fleet is named after him" Artem Mikoyan: *Angry russian noises*

[@ericrodriguez549]

Anyone remember the movie Firefox with Clint Eastwood? Great movie👍🏻

[@ericmorang3903]

You must think in Russian!

[@bestoutcomes]

you are joking certainly .. that was a stupid movie with abhorrent simulated flight scenes

[@dmmchugh3714]

Also Belenko remained in the USA, though his family back in USSR were persecuted and ostracized. His wife was unable to get a job and his son ran away from school. Not sure how they ultimately fared. There is a great book on this story, 'MiG Pilot', by John Barron . Trying to locate a copy for myself .

[@jimstanga6390]

The Soviets accused the Japanese of “unfriendly handling”

[@boogiestreet594]

The way you just nonchalantly said "Any any speed over 2 THOUSAND miles per hour"

[@1stupidfatginger]

Man you had the perfect chance to end this with, "As to whether or not Russia or the United States will ever pay these bills, I guess for now, we'll remain... in the dark."

[@johnlewisiii2076]

love how each side invoiced each other for aspects of the incident

[@kh40yr]

Viktor Belenko. A excellent book. Remember when it happened. I was 10. Dad jumped up and down and made mass racket in the house. Pops was a private pilot since the army days. A 1976 model,,FRESH off the line with the latest updates. The cherry on top,,turned out to be a milk dud only. The 3.2 pass landed in Egypt??,,or just outside of Egypt??,, with white torched engines. 3.2 at 80,000 I think,,which shook the world,,if only for a few moments. Betcha the Sled drivers pulled back a couple missions because of that.

[@rohitgoyal7258]

9:42 No wonder why the intakes of the F-15 looks so similar to the MIG-25, also felt bad for the soviets. That pilot's personal life costed too much. But then again if the soviets were treating the common people badly he DID THE RIGHT thing,!!

[@thetopsecretpentagonsclass6350]

MiG-25 intakes exactly look like A-5 Vigilante, which was base model for the F-15 Eagle!.

[@Wallyworld30]

Clint Eastwood's Movie from 1982 Fire Fox was based on this plane. In the movie Clint breaks into a secret hangar and flies away in the super secret plane. I really enjoyed the movie and it gets my recommendation!

[@johnbailey7038]

Marty Moose Yes! I loved that movie when i was a kid. The special effects were laughable but still it was good. As soon as the dark docs video got going firefox came to mind

[@Wallyworld30]

John Bailey I’m glad you liked it too. I have it on VHS to this day. It’s a guilty pleasure and the crazy special effects only add to it’s charm!

[@Bud5150]

Some Mig 31 Foxhound seen in the video. No deal man, both Mig 25 & Mig 31 are very similar.

[@LAG09]

The west was definitely capable of flying planes at Mach 3 when the MiG 25 was developed. The Lockheed A-12, the early version of the SR-71, first few in 1962 and was regularly reaching in excess of Mach 3 by 1963. Let's also not forget about the Mac 3+ capable North American XB-70 that first flew in 1964 and was the plane the MiG-25 was literally designed to shoot down. As for the reason why the west never bothered with making bombers and fighters that flew as fast as the MiG 25, it's pretty simple. The west knew that the Soviets would have a hard time intercepting the jets for a few years, then improve their air defence missiles and they'd have to start all over again. In plain English it was just a pointless waste of money. This is the exact reason why the XB-70 never went into proper production and why they instead just started flying bombers at low altitude. The F-111, TSR-2, Tornado and B1/B1B were explicitly designed for flying fast at low level so that the curvature of the earth prevented long range radar detection.

[@jlvfr]

At 2:19, when the narrator says "the entire famous Mig fleet is named after him"... that's funy, cause that plane is a *_Tupolev 128_* ... Edit: and at 3:13... Edit: Mig-27 at 4:58, the "F-4" at 5:20 are F-111... Sloppy work...

[@oldfrend]

not to mention MiG is short for Mikoyan Gurevich. so they're mostly named after his partner.

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. - I really wish people would just read the description. He mentions this same concept on every single video...

[@Bravo-Too-Much]

Wow, in my head I just never would have pictured this being just a few feet smaller than a WW2 bomber.

[@Bartonovich52]

And twice as heavy.

[@startingbark0356]

Ww2 bombers aren’t that big tho

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

I remember when they first started talking in public about the mig-25 foxbat. This would be before the defection. The mig-25 was the be-all to end all of Fighters! Then they got the hands on it. The fit and finish of the plane was actually fairly crude. The Pilot's view from the cockpit was poor in particular happen behind the aircraft there was no ability to see that direction at all. Handling was like a cement truck. To its credit the mig-25 straight line was faster than hell. Subsequent make 31 Foxhound has improved in some of the deficiencies of the mig-25 including the materials used and the fit and finish. The Mig-25 used use stainless steel in it's construction to compensate for kinetic heating in high-speed flight. The Mig-31 uses lighter-weight alloys would the same thermal properties. It's definitely an upgrade to its predecessor. To sum up the flight envelope up to mig-25, straight fast and high! It did feature a decent look down shoot down radar to the heat-seeking missiles and to radar guided missiles but no gun.

[@michaelroberts889]

To Dark Docs. I love this spooky espionage cold war stuff! Everything you have done on this subject has been informative and accurate. I have shook Victor Balenko's and had a short conversation with him so l have a personal involvement to this story. Thank you for showing it.

[@donnebes9421]

Michael Roberts insert the word penis in the appropriate spot.

[@odonovan]

Please..BELENKO, not Balenko.

[@michaelroberts889]

Don Nebes. What? Are you like some 12 year old that just randomly says penis because his mom tells him it's naughty. Go play Pokemon or something the adults are talking here

[@meanstavrakas1044]

I have the sad news of reporting that Viktor Belenko died on September 24, 2023 in southern Illinois, USA. The news was kept secret for 2 months.....

[@LaithFaouri]

The Japanese sent a bill that was the funniest part of the whole story 🤣

[@dmmchugh3714]

Russia was massively spying on Japan at this time too, so throwing such shade must have been sweet for Japan.

[@DarkTranqz]

1:26 You're kidding, right? The MiG-25 first flew in 1964. The Lockheed A-12 first flew in 1962.. Entered service in 1965. It had a maximum altitude of 90,000 feet on low fuel, a top speed of mach 3.3, and was capable of sustaining mach 3.2 at 85,000 feet. The SR-71 first flew in the same year as the MiG-25, in 1964, but entered service 4 years earlier, in 1966. It was capable of everything the A-12 was, but was faster with 3,000 pounds of additional thrust from the P&W JT11D-20K engine variant, at full afterburner (34,000 lb), even though it was bigger and 6,000 pounds heavier than the A-12. It was capable of mach 3.35, so long as the compressor inlet did not exceed 800°F. I don't get how you could not think of the SR-71 lol..

[@DrogoBaggins987]

The U.S. was flying jets at mach 3 before the end of the 1950's in the form of the predecessors of the SR-71 and F-12 if I remember correctly. The Mig 25 was in response to the fast U.S. jets.

[@mikeb.5039]

The MIG-25 was the response to the B-70 bomber and the F-108 Mach 3 fighter. The YF-12 prototypes were converted to SR-71's due to development problems and issues with Mach 3 combat. The Hughes super falcon weapons system for the F-12 went on to become the AIM-54 Phoenix for the F-14.

[@bicyclist2]

Wow! This is a very cool bit of history. Thanks.

[@ret03man]

I remember the fictional novel and movie about a Soviet Jet called the Firefox that Clint Eastwood starred in. The plane was most assuredly modeled on the Mig-25. Some of the supposed abilities of the Firefox was stealth capability and thought controlled weapons.

[@Windows98R]

This plane is the literal example of “rocket strapped to a pair of wings”

[@frostroxie2740]

The mig 25 engines had to be replaced almost after every high Mach run....

[@sequalsr2550]

You know its bad when your own pilots defect to your enemy with a top secret high-speed aircraft that can go to mach 3

[@randallgaddy2591]

Yeap , stalin was bulshitvic communist , and they were sick people

[@dx1450]

MiG-25: I can fly almost at Mach 3! SR-71: That's cute.

[@squiggles8460]

well how many SR-71's were there? Yeah that's what I thought.

[@TheCerebralDude]

@@squiggles8460 How many SR-71s were shot down. ? Exactly

[@squiggles8460]

@@TheCerebralDude 1

[@TheCerebralDude]

@@squiggles8460 Zero

[@squiggles8460]

@@TheCerebralDude yeah nvm i was thinking of the U-2, but still 2 were made so I meannnnn

[@myk7295]

Why this story was not made into a movie is beyond me

[@myk7295]

Sandy Christie Yes. Great flick

[@patdalager4928]

I got to to speak with a member of the inspection team. The officer said it that it wasn't that hot. Lousy electronics Over powered engines.

[@schoolssection]

Analog electronics - ok against EMP but way too heavy.

[@williamcollins2015]

Actually met him ( Victor Belenko ) long ago at a conference while on Active Duty and got a chance to hear him speak. Intelligent, funny, but dead serious type of guy. God Bless him and for the incredible sacrifices he made to come over to the West. We were DAMN FORTUNATE to have such a man as he to request asylum and to provide us clues that the Soviets were NOT the 10 ft tall giants our intel people were drawing them up to be!

[@ronaldschoolcraft8654]

"Two F-4s were scrambled" -- while showing two F-111s.

[@TheGryxter]

Thought I was the only one who noticed that!

[@bills7115]

my Dad was one of the reverse engineers of that plane. It had rusted in parts and tube radios was all he ever said of it.

[@rogersanchez9635]

Someone’s in my girls family was also on that team he said the machining wasn’t near us levels of precision

[@bills7115]

@@rogersanchez9635 Hmmm did they work for E.C.I. or Esystems ... same firm Dad was a reverse engineer didn't think much of the plane or some other Russian stuff he work ed on.

[@tracycolorado]

and then came the MIG - 29 . You Should do the Story how the Soviets commandeered and reengineered , the Two Top Secret B-29's in WW 2

[@andreirotenev]

And made it hilariously large

[@tracycolorado]

@@andreirotenev ; yep , history is really funny

[@manyhammers5944]

Jet pilot is a John Wayne movie about the Soviet B-29 and parasite fighters.

[@gilanbarona9814]

Excellent summary of a long and complex story. In the book, MiG Pilot by John Barron, this story was detailed, and the story of Belenko himself, who had serious doubts about the decisions he made, was told. The human side of the story, perhaps, could not be included in detail in a short video, and this is a good video. However, Belenko's story and personal struggles were as much part of this narrative as the bit about the Foxbat itself. Thanks for this video. Well done.

[@mwhitelaw8569]

I remember when this went down It was big news for about two minutes

[@bigmaclean]

What was it like, growing up with dinosaurs?

[@jubjub7101]

Imagine a MiG pilot seeing an F-35 today. I’m sure there are plenty pilots still around, and man their minds must be blown.

[@startingbark0356]

Idk, they probably think its a futuristic harrier

[@TheFeralBachelor]

Good video.. "to this day, neither bill has been paid."

[@generalzucc462]

Brian Landers gulag for him

[@williamreed2004]

In the old USSR, I got to sit in one. Tacky details, and poor canopy. But, looked like a tank

[@argusvondoom5676]

good video, but he failed to mention that it was designed to counter the xb-70 valkyrie bomber the us was constructing and later was cancelled. the mig-25 was made to go that fast to shoot down the xb-70 as well as provide more protection over large swaths of russian territory

[@josephdonnelly2663]

That would be the Tu 128 or Tu 28. The largest interceptor ever built. It was designed with longer range for huge areas of coverage. Two man crew, two engines for attacking B 52's.

[@Evil.Totoro]

I remember seeing a documentary which stated the MIG-25 benefited from espionage work done by Soviet spies within the AV Roe Canada plant when they were developing the Arrow. It is said this was one of the reason the project was canceled and all prototypes destroyed because of the breach in security, if true that could definitely be a cool Darkdocs.

[@kemsmith]

"But Amazon said return shipping was free!"

[@izaicslinux6961]

Fighter jets at the time no longer got one day free shipping. Not enough people buying jets, and the costs of shipping were too high, so amazon cut it.

[@andrewsiefker70]

Careful some sjw got but hurt because i made a funny joke on here.

[@JTA1961]

It wasn't Amazon but that other big river shipping company... deNILE.😃

[@thebeagles2025]

If you ever find a copy of MiG Pilot by Viktor Belenko, you should read it. During a class, his instructor told them that American F-14s could climb faster and turn tighter than the MiG 25 and he replied with "Then why don't they give us F-14s and get rid of this sh^%?" But the most surprising thing to me was when he came to America, he was asked what he really wanted to do. He said, "See an aircraft carrier and go to a grocery store." He did not think they'd let him do either. At the grocery store he was shocked when they let him pick up packages of meat and put them back and take another. He was sure it was all set up just for him and wasn't really the way Americans shopped. Its a great book.

[@n0madfernan257]

legend says that to this day, the unpaid bills are still having compounded interests

[@TheHelghast1138]

Yay a new Dark Doc, and I'm not disappointed! Yet another awesome video! 😎

[@Trek001]

Dark Docs:- "The Eagle would be the world's most formidable air superiority fighter" Supermarine Spitfire: Hold my engine oil

[@gibbsm]

F15 would kill the spitfire before it even took off. Dark Docs is correct.

[@Trek001]

@@gibbsm They have tried a Spitfire against a Typhoon and an F35 - neither of them could get a lock on with their weapons and were outturned when closing for guns Spits reign supreme

[@morgangrey4020]

@@Trek001 your a moron....1 pass by the F-35 at mach 1.4 at close range and the spitz is toast

[@morgangrey4020]

PS the P-51 Mustang dominated the spitz by the way in mock combat.

[@Trek001]

@@morgangrey4020 Would it bollocks

[@jayc3110]

A wonderful glimpse of this incident... Very nicely done and well explained... Thank you!

[@Musicreach101]

Oh hell yah!! Another killer video! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🤘🏻

[@SniffHeinkel]

This is easily one of my favorite channels on KZbin.

[@AviTheWolf]

Furries and Aviation.... Never have I seen something go together so well lol

[@fakeaccount1069]

3:18 - Wow, large wings, particularly useful on fighter planes to generate lift! Did he actually just say that?! hahahahahahah

[@NastyNapkin-ys2bl]

MIG-21 and 25 are some of the coolest planes I’ve ever seen

[@NastyNapkin-ys2bl]

A MIG 31 is my favorite looking jet

[@tieck4408]

I have a feeling it will be a similar story when we get a J-20 and an SU-57.

[@eswing2153]

I can’t stop watching your channel.

[@oldbaldfatman2766]

Nov. 18, 2019----A few notes about this. I remember when all of this happened and how the Japanese government tried preventing photos of this plane being taken by civilians even as it was being covered up. A couple of months later, Hasegawa released a 1/72nd scale kit of it based on photos taken. When they released a model of the F-15A, they had side by side and from top down view of the two aircraft....with the F-15 being just slightly different than the MiG-25. Also, from what I understand, the MiG-25 was designed to counter the XB-70 Valkyrie, a U.S. bomber the Air Force was building, but it never went into production. As for Bilenko decision to defect, I read that the CIA had been working on him to defect. And I wonder what happened to his wife and their son. Fast forward a few years and I'm doing 90 TDY at Shemya AFB, Alaska. My squadron there had all of 3 A.F. people: me, the commander (a major) and a TSgt., while all the others there were civilians as Russian linguists listening to whatever they could from Russian installations which weren't that far away. The Major was one of Bilenko's interpreters at the time. The CIA had put Bilenko in a safe house in Washington DC, then one day, Bilenko was missing! Everyone assumed the KGB had organized a snatch team with the intention of bringing him back to Russia. His being gone from the safe house was much more simpler. He wanted to get laid, so went looking for a hooker. When he came back, the CIA took care of his future needs. Yeah, true story. And the world found out about the SR-71 in 1964 when LBJ talked about it. As to the MIG-25, a lot of tech knowledge was learned. Like the hydraulic fluids used in the landing gear was alcohol based. With little personnel support such as grocery store, movie theater, etc., a lot of these troops would drink it, more than once resulting in blindness or death. And there were many MiG & SU aircraft that the Air Force got their hands on, like the Israeli's helping recover MiG-21's and India selling some of theirs. They'd be tested at Area 51, which is where that brigadier general was killed while flying a SU-27, which the AF did its best to cover up cause of his death other than an aircraft training accident. Thing is, the BG was NOT qualified to fly the plane, but because of his rank.... Also, a lot of these Russian aircraft were flown/tested out of Tonopah airport, Nevada. At one point, it had been a WW 2 training base for black B-25 crews who didn't get to see combat as the war ended. As to the AF ground crew, they were the best of the best.

[@johnhopkins6260]

FWIW, MiG-25 is a Russian 1970's aircraft: top speed Mach 2.8 (3,000kmh), Ceiling: 24,000 m (78,000 ft), Range: 1,000 nmi; In 1964, the Lockheed A-12: Mach 3.35, Ceiling 26,000 m(85,000ft), Range: 2,500 nmi. Turns out, the feared Foxbat was a gas-guzzling barge that ate its' own engines

[@rickhunter8444]

Good channel, good content. Do us a favor, get closer to the microphone or turn your gain up. I'm tired of having to max out the volume to hear you whisper about all these great subjects

[@8076A]

Then the MiG-31 came into existence after these events and was an all around upgrade and flies to this day.