2 ms·
Actually, the MiG-25 was designed to catch the XB-70 Valkyrie, which is why top speed and cost were the priority requirements. Speed because it needed to catch
by TremendousJudge 5y ago
Actually, the MiG-25 was designed to catch the XB-70 Valkyrie, which is why top speed and cost were the priority requirements. Speed because it needed to catch it, and cost because there had to be a lot of them built if they wanted to protect the entire territory from supersonic nuclear bombers. And it should've been able to catch the supposed mach 3.1 speed of the XB-70. The Valkyrie was cancelled of course, but the Soviet Union kept using (and selling) the jet.
- quercusa 5y agoThe remaining XB-70 would be reason enough to visit the US AF Museum (Dayton, Ohio) - it's a stunning plane. That said, the museum is easily worth two days.
- geocrasher 5y agoOh, my memory did not serve me well in this case. Thanks for the correction! The XB-70 is an amazing aircraft.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y agoDidn't the XB-70 become the B-1?
- icegreentea2 5y agoKinda not really? The XB-70 cancellation left a hole (next generation strategic bomber) that was eventually filled by the B-1. But the initial B-1(A) was envisioned to be somewhat lower speed, but still fast (Mach 2), and specifically a low altitude penetrator (XB-70 was a high speed, high altitude plane). It then got reworked into the B-1B which is uh... weird role. It's even slower than the B-1A, somewhat more stealthy, and really supposed to be used as a cruise missile truck. Arguable how much value the B-1B really provided.
- rjsw 5y agoThe B-1B seems to be a really good smart bomb truck.