In the desert, there are certain things you simply don’t expect to encounter, and a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 is certainly one of them. Dubbed the Foxbat by NATO, this Cold War-era interceptor was renowned for its incredible speed and altitude capabilities. While it was originally developed in the Soviet Union, this aircraft saw service in multiple air forces worldwide, including those of Syria, India, Algeria, and Iraq.
Several variants of the MiG-25 were created, one of which was the MiG-25RB, known as the Foxbat-B. This single-seat version was equipped with advanced reconnaissance gear and a bombing system that could carry up to eight 500-kg bombs.
This is the same interceptor shown in the photo above, as American troops uncovered it. The discovery occurred in the early days of the Iraq War. In April 2003, the aircraft was found buried deep in the sand at Al Taqaddum Air Base, situated in Iraq’s western desert.
Its presence at the base came as a surprise to many, although intelligence had hinted that various items were hidden in the area. As former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld put it, “We’d heard a great many things had been buried, but we had not known where they were, and we’d been operating in that immediate vicinity for weeks and weeks and weeks…12, 13 weeks, and didn’t know they were [there].”
Although the aircraft’s body was in remarkably good condition, the wings had been removed before it was covered in sand, and they weren’t found in the vicinity. Supposedly, the MiG-25RB had been buried in the desert to prevent it from being destroyed by coalition forces during the invasion. As of 2006, this particular aircraft is now located at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
This wasn’t the only aircraft of this type to be found. In fact, several dozen were found in 2003, including further MiGs and Sukhoi Su-25s.
Why were these aircraft buried underground, instead of in use? Interestingly enough, before the American invasion, Iraq had one of the largest Air Forces in the region. The service had put a significant amount of money into improving its air prowess, which included purchasing newer jets, improving its airbases and runways, and building new hangars.
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However, when the US invaded and marched on Baghdad in 2003, they encountered no aerial resistance, as the Iraqi forces had decided this would do nothing to stop the much superior Americans. Instead, it was ordered that the fleet be buried in the desert, which is why the US military found so many aircraft under the sand.