There was a mig that was flown to the U.S. by a Soviet defector. I think this was around the end of the Vietnam war or shortly after if I remember correctly. American engineers reported it was overblown hype pertaining to the jet’s capabilities, performance and structure. They said it would be like flying a high powered garbage can and would probably come apart if flown at top speed for even a short time, due to poor metals and weak welds. It was high powered junk.
There was a defector who flew a Mig-25 from Siberia to Japan, I think in the mid 1970’s. The USAF took it apart all the way down to the last lockwasher. The soviets raised all kinds of hell. They wanted their plane back. Eventually the AF sent it back with each individual part packaged. Thousands of individual packages. They got their plane back.
They Soviets stressed Quantity Over Quality.
The pilots knew the planes were junk. The MIG-20 was so shoddy they would actually come apart at high speed and high altitudes if they made any sudden maneuvers. And some did when ‘chasing’ the SR-71.
The Mig-25 was a flying fuel tank, built especially for intercepting the SR-71. But couldn’t................
He flew it to Japan. The US went there, took it apart and inspected every bit of it. We were surprised at how crude it was. Then, the US boxed it up and shipped it back to Russia.
It was a MIG-25 flown to Japan in 1976. The pilot ended up in the USA and after being debriefed he was given money, a small aircraft, and allowed to fly around the USA.
As far as the Foxbat itself, the Soviets did not spare money or resources on parts of the aircraft that didn’t need to be given the best treatment. Surfaces that did not directly affect the flying characteristics were made of whatever needed to make it work. It was not a work of art but a collage of the best reverse tech they could muster and spit and bailing wire if it would function correctly.
He wrote a book, “MIG Pilot” and his name was, Viktor Belenko. He passed away here in the USA in 2023. I read that book after it was first released and it cemented my hatred for communism. The last chapter regarding his observations traveling the USA and the comparison and contrast to that of the USSR was excellent. I was an Active Duty USAF E3 at the time.