The Russian pilot who unraveled the Mig-25 Foxbat for the West dies in the US at 76

 

He was among the highest-profile figures to defect from the Soviet Union at the peak of the Cold War. He brought with him the top-secret interceptor fighter jet MiG-25 ‘Foxbat’ from the USSR with him. The Soviet Pilot Lieutenant Viktor Ivanovich Belenk, who unraveled the MiG-25 for the West died at the age of 76 years in the US.

The Swan Song of the Soviet aircraft designer Mikhail Gurevich, MiG-25, code-named ‘Foxbat’ by NATO, was a super-fast and super high combat jet. Its unmatched supersonic speed and stratospheric reach had evoked fear in the western militaries for years.

Fables were spawned around the fighter jet that could climb the stratosphere (the second layer of the earth’s atmosphere) in a matter of few seconds and attain supersonic speeds. The pilots of the jet could see the earth’s curvature from up there. The jet’s capability was so unmatched that the flight of the MiG-25s earned the monikers of “Loneliness at Mach 3”.

The West was panicking over the regular reconnaissance flights by MiG‐25's over West Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. According to NATO intelligence reports, there are 45 Foxbats in East Germany and Poland employed on such patrols.

 

Lieutenant Belenko was 29-years-old getting training on the MiG-25 supersonic interceptor jet. In September 1976, disillusioned after a personal setback, he flew on MiG-25 undetected to Japan and delivered the aircraft in exchange of asylum in the US. The New York Times reported that he went on to settle in the US and died on September 24 in a small town in Southern Illinois. His death came after a brief illness and was not widely reported at the time.

Belenko lived a low-profile life. He did make occasional appearances at air shows after the end of the Cold War. But he never sought to capitalize on his moment of international fame. “He lived the most private life,” his son Paul was quoted by the New York Times. “He flew under the radar, literally and figuratively.”

Belenko’s story still remains as one of the most intriguing tales of the Cold War. The aircraft’s spy satellite photos had caused panic in the Pentagon. A gigantic Soviet airplane with an engine intake equal to the size of small cars, huge wings indicated at maneuverability that even America’s McDonnell F-4 Phatom II could not achieve.

The aircraft was brought out in public for the first time in July 1967. It set some records that hitherto remain unbroken. It notched a speed of 1,852 mph, climbed to 98,425 feet in four minutes and 3.86 seconds and ultimately reached an absolute altitude record of 123,520 feet.

Such was the paranoia in the west around the Foxbat that as soon as the fighter jet went operational in 1970s, the US altered its battle plan. The US got a new generation of surface-to-air missiles in its inventory, no bombers were allowed towards Russia. The US retired B-58 Hustler and dropped the plans for the B-70.

‘Intelligence Bonanza’ as MiG-25 lands in Japan

Lieutenant Belenko was heartbroken as his wife was divorcing him. On September 6, 1976, he took off from the Sakharovka air base in Siberia along with two more aircraft. Shortly after take-off he peeled away from his formation and dropped to an altitude of about 150 feet to escape Soviet radar. After he was out of the range of the Soviet radar, Lieutenant Belenko took his plane up to 18,000 feet and headed for Japan.

The escape was meticulously planned for months. Belenko waited for the moment when they were to exercise on the Sea of Japan to make dash for freedom. He circled the Hakodate airport twice before landing and overshot the runway. Belenko had provided the West the opportunity to examine the aircraft more closely.

 

“He jerked the MiG into the tightest turn of which it was capable, allowed the 727 to clear, dived at a dangerously sharp angle, and touched the runway at 220 knots. As he deployed the drag chute and repeatedly slammed down the brake pedal, the MiG bucked, bridled, and vibrated as if it were going to come apart. Tires burning, it screeched and skidded down the runway, slowing but not stopping.

“It ran off the north end of the field, knocked down a pole, plowed over a second, and finally stopped a few feet from a large antenna 800 feet off the runway. The front tire had blown, but that was all,” according to an excerpt from a biography of the pilot written by John Barron MiG Pilot, The Final Escape of Lieutenant Belenko, published in 1980.

The then director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Bush aptly called the incident an “intelligence bonanza.” Surprisingly, none of the Western pilots flew the aircraft that Belenko brought.

Japan, however, ordered the dismantling of the Soviet MiG 25. Assisted by nearly 20 United States Air Force experts it separated the wings and vertical tails from the fuselage. The MiG-25 was taken in crates to the US for closer inspection and Belenko was flown to the country for questioning. He was granted citizenship in 1980.

EOM/

Seeds of Kashmiri youth’s alienation lie in graveyards

September 2018

Tikpora Lolab (Kashmir): It was on October 11 that her brother was killed during a gunfight with the security forces. Her tears have since dried up, but the flow of mourners continue unabated in their house in the beautiful Lolab Valley of Kashmir. Asimah is trying to come to terms with the death of her brother Manan Wani, but she keeps saying one thing: “It (joining militancy) was so sudden that we did not realise it. We knew when he picked up gun that he will kill someone or get killed.”

The despondence in Asimah’s voice is also palpable in Manan Wani’s father – Bashir Ahmed Wani, a lecturer at a college in nearby Sogam area. Sitting stoically as mourners continue to pour in from across Kashmir, Bashir exhorts the politicians to find a solution to wrest the growing trend of youth picking up guns. “I am not a politician. I cannot tell why children are picking up gun. It is for the politicians to find a solution,” Bashir said.

Manan Wani has shocked people across cross-sections of Kashmir conundrum for leaving behind an illustrious life that waited for him and picking up guns. But, the story emerging from the profiles of recent militants killed at the hands of security forces is a sordid one. In these stories parents are rendered helpless in stemming the growing number of youngsters opting for militancy to push back the high-handedness of security forces. Similar disbelief is writ large on the face of the father of Ashiq Hussain Zargar, the 23-year-old joined Hizbul Mujahideen and was killed along with Manan Wani. Ashiq was the sole bread winner of his family.

After Burhan Wani’s death, everyone in Kashmir had come out on streets and pelted stones. The state police responded by invoking the Public Safety Act (PSA) – 1978, which allows preventive detention of people against whom there is no criminal track record.  Hundreds of people, including juveniles, have been jailed on administrative orders of the deputy commissioners following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen Commander Burhan Wani. Those detained were treated like hardened criminals and children as young as 15-year-old were put alongside criminals. “Everyone had pelted stone after Burhan Wani’s death. What police did was to slap PSA against the young. Many a times the police men would ask Ashiq to come. He was scared that he would be tortured, so he ran away,” said Ashiq’s younger brother Firdaus, his eyes emotionless. Ashiq had been missing for 5 months and they had filed a missing person report.

Harangued parents have run pillar to post to locate their children arrested under PSA. From 2016-February 2018, 1,150 people were detained under PSA. As many as 55-60 per cent of the detainees were in the age group of 15-28 years. Under PSA there is no trial as all detainees are considered guilty. Sometimes, even if the parents manage to get the PSA order quashed against their child quashed, the police immediately gets another detention order against them. Under the Section 8 (ii) of the Act, a person can be detained for up to 2 years from the date of offence, if the offence is prejudicial to the security of the state.   

“PSA is being used to target the youth. And the no-talks stand of the Centre is increasing militancy. Most militancy recruitment are successful due to trust deficit in the youth,” says Waheed Ur Rehman Para, the youth president and Spokesperson of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The narrative of ‘dignity in death’ among the youngsters has gained traction and is reflected in the spike in number of militants in the valley from the all-time low of 78 in 2013 to nearly 360 in 2018. The number has increased even as the security forces have killed around 170 terrorists/infiltrators since January 1, 2018.

“The government needs to understand that the seeds of the youth’s alienation are in the graveyards. Today, the killings of the ‘militants’ have been incentivised over surrender,” Para added. The 30-year-old politician from Pulwama has been in the forefront of sports movement in the valley to help the enraged youth channelize their energy. He has also survived an assassination attempt in August this year.

The stand-off between the youngsters and security forces have been evident during the funeral of Manan Wani. As the news of his “encounter” – as the killing by security forces are called in the valley- spread thousands of youth from all parts of the valley converged in his village. The police fearing a repeat of Burhan Wani, blocked the roads to Tikpora and detained many of them under PSA. The bail amount asked was Rs. 30,000. Many harried parents, barely able to contain their tears, have been meeting local politicians to get their children freed even after two weeks. These funeral processions in reality have become the recruitment advertisements for militancy.

The arbitrariness and the perpetual continuity of the PSA has resulted in many youngsters going in hiding. “There are children in the village would go and stay with their relatives, and only dare to return to their homes during night,” Ashiq’s brother Firdaus said. With 63 per cent of Kashmir’s population under the age of 30 and 70 per cent below the age of 35, the elderlies are finding it difficult to mitigate their sense of frustration and alienation with the system.

Bashir Wani summed up the fear and frustration of parents in Kashmir by saying: “I have been working hard all my life hoping that Manan would grow up and do something for the society. The path that he chose for himself has caused me immense pain. It is for all of us (society and the state) to find out why our children are becoming violent.” 

(This piece was written during my last visit to Kashmir in September 2018.)

India to offer ALHs to Indonesia, this time with training, maintenance package

New Delhi, March 24: India is offering its indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) Dhruv to Indonesia but taking out a leaf from its experience in Latin America it will be clubbing maintenance and training in the package as well.

If Indian defence diplomacy gets through the deal the ALHs will be operating in China’s backyard and it would be nothing sort of a coup with the Indian-built helicopters operating from Chinese background.

A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official told me, “We will be making our offer for ALHs to Indonesia and this time with training and maintenance package as our experience in Ecuador has taught us.” ALHs, made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and supplied to Ecuador, had crashed bringing a bad name to the home-built choppers.

India does not have a defence export policy but it does have a secret list of countries that it will not be selling the defence equipment to. Recently, India has been pushing its defence diplomacy to help the countries in the South-East Asian region – namely Indonesia and Vietnam – to develop potent armed forces. So far the defence element of cooperation between these countries have been largely focussed on training armed forces personnel and joint wargames.