Foxbat.

This is coolbert:

From over fifty years ago. The high-speed Soviet warplane that scared the pants off of NATO.

A threat as perceived by NATO awesome but only with hindsight found to be lacking?

From Sputnik:

"Gotta Go Fast: MiG-25 Fighter Jet Frightened NATO With its Insane Velocity, US Media Reveals"

"The military aircraft, created in 1964 still remains faster than any other fighter plane even from the fourth and fifth generations."

"The world's fastest fighter jet, the MiG-25 (NATO reporting name Foxbat) frightened the US and its NATO allies when it was designed by the Soviet Union, according to the military-themed portal We Are the Mighty."

Foxbat indeed capable of Mach 3 flight. Seen as a distinct and formidable threat to NATO air superiority.

However the mission and threat as posed by Foxbat poorly understood by NATO military intelligence.

Foxbat strictly designed as an interceptor warplane the mission of which was to get really high really fast and shoot down an intruding American supersonic bomber aviation. An American supersonic bomber threat that never materialized. [B-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber prototypes flown but never manufactured]

Foxbat as rather deployed and among the assets the Soviet PVO Strany. Air defense of the Soviet homeland.

FOXBAT NOT AN AIR SUPERIORITY FIGHTER PLANE OR MULTI-ROLE COMBAT-AIRCRAFT. NOR HAVING THE RANGE TO DELIVER ANTI-SHIP MISSILES THE TARGET NATO WARSHIPS IN THE GREENLAND-UK GAP.

Foxbat a reconnaissance version observed in Mach 3 flight. A single pass over Israel.

FOXBAT IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE MISSION OVER ISRAEL THE PLANE SCRAPPED, SO MUCH DAMAGE DONE TO THE ENGINE!

Foxbat becoming Foxhound [MiG-31. Two-seater interceptor warplane still in service.

It is not so much reality that counts but the perception of reality that counts??

coolbert.