Soviet MiG-25P Foxbat high-speed interceptor aircraft at Nasosnaya airport




	Soviet MiG-25P ‘Foxbat’ high-speed interceptor aircraft at Nasosnaya airport

	In the middle of the seventies, the 82nd Fighter Air Regiment replaced their Yak-28P ‘Fireball’ type to modern MiG-25P high-speed interceptor aircraft at Nasosnaya airport. The 82nd regiment was the southernmost MiG-25P air defence unit in the Soviet Union. The pilots of the Yak-28s didn't continue their career in the regiment. New pilots flew on the new MiG-25P ‘Foxbat-A’ type in the middle of the seventies.

Yak-28P Fireball interceptors at the Nasosnaya airport in the 70s


	Next photos: Soviet MiG-25P ‘Foxbat-A’ interceptors and MiG-15UTI ‘Midget’ trainer aircraft at Nasosnaya airport close to Baku city in the seventies:


	The pilots of the 82nd Fighter Air Regiment went to the 116th or 18th Air Defense Training Center often. They flew with their MiG-25P ‘Foxbat-A’ aircraft to Privolzhskiy, Astrakhan military airfield. Here the pilots shot down air targets with R-40 'AA-6 Acrid' long-range air-to-air missile.

		Left: Two MiG-25P ‘Foxbat-A’ interceptors of the 82nd Fighter Air Regiment parking on Privolzhskiy, Astrakhan military airfield


	The 210th industrial aircraft repair factory worked at Nasosnaya airport during this time. This factory repaired the Soviet Air Defence's Yak-28P and later the MiG-25P aircrafts. The 82nd Fighter Air Regiment sent their MiG-25P aircraft and Tumansky R-15B-300 turbojet engines to the 210th industrial aircraft repair factory. The factory extended the aircraft’s and the engine’s lifespan.

Soviet MiG-25P Foxbat-A interceptors on the 210th industrial aircraft repair factory at Nasosnaya airport








		Soviet Crew of the MiG-25P ‘Foxbat-A’ at Nasosnaya airport close to Baku city in 1983

The 210th industrial aircraft repair factory upgraded the 82nd regiment's MiG-25Ps to MiG-25PDS in the early eighties. The improved MiG-25PDS ‘Foxbat-E’ single-seat all-weather interceptor fighter aircraft fitted with new an undernose IR search and track system and new N-005 Saphir-25 (RP-25M) Pulse-Doppler radar with look-down/shoot down capability. Could be fitted with four R-60 ‘AA-8 Aphid’ air-to-air missiles replacing outermost two R-40 ‘AA–6 Acrid’ long-range air-to-air missile.

At the same time, the regiment got some factory new MiG-25PU ‘Foxbat-C’ trainer aircraft too.




		Soviet pilots in front of their improved MiG-25PDS ‘Foxbat-E’ row at the Nasosnaya airport. (b/n: red 31 factory date: 1976)




		USSR 82nd Fighter Air Regiment’s MiG-25PDS ‘Foxbat-E’ under a hardened aircraft shelter in the eighties. (b/n: red 21 factory date: 1972)


	In the sixties and seventies, the 82nd regiment lost one/two Yak-28 ‘Fireball’ aircraft per year. After arriving of the MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ type, the loss rate has improved but it didn't stop.








		Rescue MiG-25PDS ‘Foxbat-E’ after overrun at the Nasosnaya airport.








		Soviet MiG-25PU ‘Foxbat-C’ accident at the Nasosnaya airport


	Photos: Andrei Oblamsky, Konstantin Egorov, Nikolay Kozhebnikov