I was at Laughlin AFB, TX, when he drove that Mig 25 into Japan. I read the book too. I was told it was not designed to be a fighter, but an interceptor, to shoot down the B-70. It was inferior to the F-15 below 50,000 feet, but superior over 50,000 feet. It was, essentially, an aircraft without a mission, since the B-70 was canceled.
Also used in recon role ... at Mach 3+ (of course at those sustained speeds it destroyed its powerplant).
The book is a good read.
A lot of interesting details about life in the Soviet Union at the time and about being a Soviet MiG-25 pilot in the Soviet Far East. Some that immediately come to mind:
- The painting of the trees along the entry road to the base to make a good impression on a Soviet AF general during an inspection visit. The trees would die; the base commander didn’t care.
- The prohibition against turning on the interceptor radar at full power while on the ground. Besides being a marvel of miniaturized vacuum tube engineering, it was also so powerful (to burn through American ECM) that it was fatal to ground personnel in front of the aircraft.
- The stealing of the pure alcohol used in the aircraft’s flight control system for drinking purposes. The aircraft used 50 liters/per flight, so to make the account books balance, thousands of gallons of AVGAS were dumped in the woods around the base. In some places, the ground was so saturated you didn’t want to smoke for fear of sparking a massive forest fire.
The book, which is worth reading, is sort of pricy, even as a used paperback:
Perhaps borrow it from the library if they have a copy?