The desertation of the MiG-25

06 September, 1976.

A group of 4 MiG-25 Ps took off for a training flight from Saharovka airbase which is 200 km far from Vladivostok. The training took place over the Japanese sea and the group just headed to home when the last plane suddenly broke the formation and moved away the group with maximum speed before the other planes managed to do anything against it. 1st Lt. Viktor Belenko landed his unarmed aircraft in NE Japan at Hokade international airport after some 15 minutes of flight to the great astonishment of the Japanese airport staff. The CIA transported the MiG-25 to Hyakuri airbase near Tokio by a C-5 transport plane. Airforce experts examined the MiG from every possible point of view and found out all of the main parameters of the aircraft. The aircraft No.31 was handed back to the Soviets in the harbour of Hitachi 67 days after its arrival and was sailed back to the Soviet Union aboard of the Tajgonos transport ship.

Belenko got political asylum from the USA and worked as an expert of soviet airforce for the CIA and the USAF.

As the most parameters of their most secret military aircraft got known by the USA the chief of the russian airforce ordered the change of the full electronical equipment of the MiG-25 which costed a large amount of money for the Soviet Union.