Buried Mig in Iraq.

It's hard to argue intentions.. But that looks pretty intentional.

I can't imagine anyone just forgetting about a multi-million Dinar Mach 3 interceptor and just letting the desert reclaim it... Especially given that they knew we were making a concerted effort to blow up their air force on the ground.

The restoration shop staff says its a back-burner project.. Memphis Belle is likely to be their top priority for a while. To make the thing presentable shouldn't be a big deal, but the USAF museum usually goes for restoring things to the point they could fly if they wanted to.. Which for that thing will mean taking it apart down to every last screw, rivet, and fastener, cleaning it, and putting it back together.

paintsniffer wrote:

I think it is probably a case of someone highly placed and clueless telling lower ranking people who may or may not have been clueless to bury the very expensive mach 3 interceptor so nobody can see it to blow it up.

Not necessarily: If you just parked it outside and ignored it, twenty years of wind and sand would bury it for you - or very nearly so. The Iraqi military left an awful lot of equipment, vehicles, and ordnance simply laying around. Of course, that's not to say that it wasn't buried purposely - they may not have wanted the sight of interceptors on the ground to attract fire from US aircraft.

Very cool to see this tired old bird being restored, by the way.

Kevin

 I think it is probably a case of someone highly placed and clueless telling lower ranking people who may or may not have been clueless to bury the very expensive mach 3 interceptor so nobody can see it to blow it up.

As promised, the pictures. Not the greatest, because I was there to see the totally disassembled pre-production F-22, F-23 and the completely disassembled and stripped memphis bell.  I have pictures of those if anyone is interested. 

I have pictures of it about a year ago when I took a tour of the restoration shop. I will see if I can dig them up. They said there is no way it would ever fly again after being buried like that- but it will be perfect for a museum display.

The wings are still off of it last I heard.

One of these Mig-25s is now undergoing restoration at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.  I saw it in person just a short time ago.

More information here:

 http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8752

Wow, that's neat.

Wikipedia has one more image of obviously the same operation, giving a good view of the truck towing it out as well. Tons of diorama potential. ^.^

Camm wrote:

The Mig in the shot's. Is that the "foxbat"?

Yes, it is a Mig-25 Foxbat

USAF Civil Engineering, Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (REDHORSE), at its finest hour, getting the job done.  When I was at Kirkuk, there was all kinds of Mig 17's and Mig 21's l aying around with brand new engines still in crates.  There was even an old WWII M-8 Greyhound armored car.  The Army dug up fill dirt and buried all the old junk around the base.

fermis wrote:

My bro brought me back a few little parts from a partially buried mig 25, found near Al Asad airbase, Iraq. Some neat stuff.    Would be a great dio.

I've been there, interesting place, there arent many planes around there, but the few that are were fun too look at.Would have loved to snag a few parts off of them. Altimeter would be fun. 

I always wondered if that thing was airworthy after being in the sand or did they just ruin it when they burried it?

Yes, it would make a killer diorama though.

And the winner for "Best-Camouflaged MiG 25  IS:"

I'd be interested to know what the truck towing out the Mig is.

The rear end of the truck appears to be that of an M-1070.

Camm wrote:

I'd be interested to know what the truck towing out the Mig is.

At a guess, I'd say it looks like an M1070 HET (Heavy Equipment Transport)

Pics may be found here: http://www.primeportal.net/transports/m1070_home.htm