Thursday, February 21, 2008

The Legend of the FoXBaT

Islamabad, May 1997: The sun has just risen up from the East, the morning dew still drapes the vegetation & none, out of his bed...Deep in the Pak Radar network centre, a blip shows up & it shies away even faster, the analysts rules it out as a glitch. Little did they know that sooner or later they would be hit by the inevitable Sonic Boom from the Indian Mig-25 flying at Mach 3 and at altitude unconquered by any air defense system. The Shock waves from the Indian ‘Garuda’ disseminated through the foe’s air space shattering the glasses, rippling the coffee & driving the residents to panic; for fear of an inbound earthquake. The waves sent a jolt up the spines of Pak air defense's top brass officials , few F-16s were scrambled to intercept the intruder, but they could do little to intercept the Mig-25 that flew faster than the bullets & escaped into the blues.
KicK A$$-FoXBaTMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25RB aka “Foxbat”, known in the IAF as “Garuda; had to bid farewell on may 1st 2006. A war Machine looked at with awe, feared & unmatched by the west; it flew at Mach 3.2 & at 90000ft .The technology was too little to bring down a Foxbat that setout the records of awefactor. A truly formidable flying monster with unparalleled power , had no self defence but relied on its high cruising altitude and blinding speed to escape the enemy.No other Indian aircraft can claim to have flown into Pakistani and Chinese airspace as much as the MiG 25.Foxbats were the loyal snoop dog of the IAF whose exploits still remain shrouded in secrecy.The Mig25s shall remain a legend , though the Indian espionage strategy & systems are evolving somewhere beyond the stratosphere!

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