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In response to
"Viktor Belenko, Who Defected to the West in a Jet Fighter, Dies at 76"
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crash davis 😺
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Sept 21, 1976 - Japanese and U.S. Specialists Dismantling MIG‐25
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About the Archive
This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them.
Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
TOKYO, Sept. 21—Piece by piece, the top‐secret MIG‐25 jet fighter flown to Japan by a defecting Soviet pilot was being further taken apart at a civilian airfield in northern Japan today, while diplomats here in the capital pondered potential repercussions of the incident in relations with the Soviet Union.
Japanese and American experts, the latter in civilian clothes, worked behind a temporary metal shelter at the Hakodate airport, removing the twin‐tail section from what is considered to be the world's most advanded fighter. Its arrival here on Sept. 6 provided the first opportunity outside the Soviet bloc for close inspection of the plane.
The aircraft's sensitive electronic gear appears to be wired with a series of selfdestructive devices. Defusing these and other “red switches” is reportedly taking more time than had been expected.
The wings must be removed and then the engines. By the end of the week, a United States C‐5A Galaxie transport plane is expected to carry the sections to the Hyakuri Air Base, about 50 miles northeast of here. Local residents, fearing leftist demonstrations or possible Soviet attempts to destroy the MIG‐25, are protesting the move as a threat to their peace and security.
The pilot, Lieut. Viktor I. Belenko, after an initial detection, eluded Japanese radar and fighters in making his approach to Hakodate. The lieutenant said he was fleeing a repressive Communist rule and had planned his escape for two years. Intelligence sources, however, say there may have been another, more mundane, reason for the flight to Japan and the unexpected intelligence bonanza. Lieutenant Belenko, they say, had an unhappy marriage.
The Soviet officer is believed to be undergoing intensive interrogation in the vicinity of Washington. He is reported “quite cooperative.’ Sources here said that the detailed questioning might well last a year.
A Few Weeks to Study Jet
The Japanese, who must live with the Soviet Union just across the Sea of Japan, believe they have only a few weeks, at most, to study the MIG‐25. The assumption here is that the plane will be returned to the Russians—in pieces—but there have been no negotiations yet for a return.
American experts on MIG's did not become openly involved with the highly advanced plane here until Sunday. “Frankly, this MIG‐25 was way beyond us,” said a Japanese defense official. “We had to have help.”
After the pieces of the MIG‐25 have been taken to the Hyakuri base, they will be studied in greater detail. But some preliminary findings have been made already.
While a MIG‐25 has been recorded by Western radar at speeds 3.2 times that of sound, the airspeed Instrument of Lieu tenant Belenko's craft, the combat version, went only as high as 2.8, with the highest numeral marked in red as if to warn of danger.
The plane can carry 14 tons of fuel. It contained only three tons when Lieutenant Belenko landed. Much of his flight to Japan was made at low altitude, which required more fuel.
Titanium, a light, heat‐resistant but very expensive metal, is used in United States supersonic aircraft such as the reconnaisance SR‐71. Experts examining the MIG‐25 were surprised to discover that the plane had steel alloy plates on the fuselage, the main wings and on other’ parts. This would greatly reduce the cost of building the plane. But a stronger engine would be required for the extra weight, with a reduction in range as a result.
Authorities speculate that the MIG‐25 flown here has poor acceleration.
The Soviet plane's outlines are similar to those of the McDonnell Douglas F‐15 Eagle, a prime candidate to become Japan's next main fighter.
Officially, the Japanese have kept a straight face on the issue of the MIG‐25, telling the Russians that they must keep the plane as long as necessary during an investigation into Lieutenant Belenko's violation of Japan's airspace, as well as the matter of damage to Japanese airport equipment when the plane ran off the Hakodate runway, and also the question of imposing an import duty on the multimillion‐dollar plane.
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