Iraqi 'Mach 3' MiG Buried in Sand (Charles Smith)

NewsMax.com ^ | August 6, 2003 | Charles Smith

[HighRoadToChina]

Iraqi 'Mach 3' MiG Buried in Sand Charles R. Smith Wednesday August 6, 2003

NewsMax.com has obtained exclusive photos of a buried Iraqi jet fighter being recovered by U.S. Air Force troops. The Iraqi jet, an advanced Russian MiG-25 Foxbat, was found buried in the sands after an informant tipped off U.S. troops. Click here to see the MiG buried in the Iraqi desert.

The MiG was dug out of a massive sand dune near the Al Taqqadum airfield by U.S. Air Force recovery teams. The MiG was reportedly one of over two-dozen Iraqi jets buried in the sands, like hidden treasure, waiting to be recovered at a later date.

Contrary to what some in the major media have reported, not all the jets found were from the Gulf War era.

The Russian made MiG-25 Foxbat recovered by U.S. Army troops in the pictures, is an advanced reconnaissance version never before seen in the west and is equipped with sophisticated electronics warfare devices.

U.S. Air Force recovery teams had to use large earth moving equipment to uncover the MiG which is over 70 feet long and weights nearly 25 tons.

Click here to see troops digging the MiG out of its hole.

Click here to see troops towing the jet away.

All photos courtesy of MSGT T. Collins, USAF

The Foxbat is known to be one of Iraq's top jet fighters. The advanced electronic reconnaissance version found by the U.S. Air Force is currently in service with the Russian air force. The MiG is capable of flying at speeds of over 2,000 miles an hour or three times the speed of sound, and at altitudes of over 75,000 feet.

The recovery of the advanced MiG fighter is considered to be an intelligence coup by the U.S. Air Force. The Foxbat may also be equipped with advanced Russian and French made electronics that were sold to Iraq during the 1990s in violation of a U.N. ban on arms sales to Baghdad.

The buried aircraft at Al Taqqadum were covered in camouflage netting, sealed and in many cases had their wings removed, before being buried over ten feet underneath the Iraqi desert.

X MARKS THE SPOT

The discovery of the buried Iraqi jet fighters illustrates the problem faced by U.S. inspection teams searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. Iraq is larger in size than California and the massive deserts south and west of Baghdad were used by Saddam Hussein to hide weapons during the first Gulf war.

U.S. intelligence sources have already uncovered several mass grave burial sites in the open deserts with an estimated 10,000 dead hidden there. In addition, Iraq previously hid SCUD missiles, chemical weapons and biological warheads by burying them under the desert sands. U.N. inspection teams found the weapons in the early 1990s after detailed information of the exact locations was obtained.

Top U.S. weapons inspector Dr. David Kay is known to favor human intelligence as the primary means to find Iraq's hidden treasure trove of weapons and secrets.

While there are rumors of Iraqi chemical and biological weapons being shipped to nearby Syria, the weapons may very well still remain inside Iraq buried under the vast desert wastelands.

Some critics of the Bush administration have claimed that the inability of U.S. forces to uncover weapons of mass destruction is proof that the President misled the nation into the war with Iraq. However, in recent days the critics have fallen silent as word quietly leaked from Iraq that major discoveries have already been made and are now being documented completely. Bush administration officials are keeping any such discoveries secret for the moment.

[kayak]

bttt

[Blood of Tyrants]

F-14 did a max of about Mach 2.1.

[StriperSniper]

I seem to remember readng that it can exceed Mach 3 for short periods of time, but then need the engines totally rebuilt. Since they were built to intercept bombers with nukes, you either got the job done, or it didn't matter anymore.

[ASA Vet]

Ok, amaze me with some examples.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I know Russian fighter's engines are supposedly less susceptible to foreign object damage (fod), but this is a bit much!

[HighRoadToChina]

I do know an Iraqi who is well connected. FRemail me who you are and what you would like to do in Iraqi as an archeologist and I'll forward the info to him.

[DannyTN]

"What does the head of your average liberal and a Mig-25 have in common...? Looking at the picture, I started to say "a point". But that just can't be right. What point does a liberal have?

[Semper Paratus]

I don't think the MiG-25 can go Mach 3.

The one they found isn't going to hit Mach .00003

[js1138]

It's got to be embarrassing to have one of your best dug out of the sand intact. Might be refurbished to give the guys at Top Gun some fun.

Maybe that's one of the reasons the Ruskies didn't want to play.

[Quilla]

I've heard the combination used once before - slightly different context.

"Although sophisticated listening devices were available, the Russian government was able to secure phone sex tapes of President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky with standard surveillance equipment. Many great guffaws were shared over a glass of chilled vodka."

[CCCV]

I don't think the MiG-25 can go Mach 3.
When I was in the USAF there was a scare about this aircraft because it was clocked at Mach3 somewhere in the middle east. (If my memory is correct it was Egypt) A little while after we got the report that it in fact had been clocked at mach3 but that it was a result of something called afterburner run-on and the aircraft came apart. I understand the principle but not being a jet engine guy, I never understood why they couldn't just shut off the fuel. Anyway, I have no idea it it was true or not, but it was told through official channels.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Interesting story here. In the mid 1980's the US military scoffed at the Soviet's use of miniturazed vacuum tubes in their equipment until someone pointed out that vacuum tubes are immune from an electromagnetic pulse.

[Pyro7480]

See post #32. There seems to be debate over its top speed.

[Sparta]

AT-14 Kornet E, responsible for the destruction of at least one maybe two Abrams tanks in Operation Iraqi Freedom

[AMNZ]

Surely this was an authorized armament, not an undisclosed acquisition from Russia.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Mabybe they can find some newer toys to play with. Maybe some MiG-29's. Yea! That would be the bomb!

[Spruce]

Not destroyed. Disabled.

[Snake Eater]

The Foxbat was designed to do Mach 2.8, but they set a redline of Mach 2.5 as any faster caused damage to the engines. US radar once tracked one over Israel at just over Mach 3. When it landed in Egypt its engines were total losses.

[Pyro7480]

This sounds sort of like the scare involving early Soviet nuclear subs. There was an incident where an aircraft carrier was being tracked by a Soviet sub, and the sub was able to keep up with the carrier, which was going 30+ knots. The only reason that they were able to go that fast was because the Soviet shipbuilders cut back on radiation shielding, and because of that, many of the sailors who served on such subs got cancer.