While searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, US Forces found some pretty interesting things in the desert, like this MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor. It was hidden underground with its wings removed. Military personnel dug it up by hand in 2003 and transported the jet to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for examination. Eventually, it will go on display to the public. Read the story of this reclamation project, and see more pictures at Urban Ghosts. http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2011/10/buried-mig-25-foxbat-jet-uncovered-in-iraqi-desert-preserved-us/
supposedly, there's a few jets buried somewhere on the decommissioned Amarillo air force base. Sealed in plastic and dropped in the ground to save money.
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I remember reading about this. They said that most that they found were buried with no protection and had been there since the first gulf war. They believe that they were thinking that it was better to hide them rather than lossing them to bombings or air-to-air combat. Probably dozens more out there but if they were buried without protection they are most likely scrap at best now.
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We said, "ground your planes". They did. Something was lost in the translation. Seriously.
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Our tax dollars at work (in 2003)...they had to transport it to the US for examination? It was at least 20 years old by then and pretty much obsolete.
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@Bill and it wasn't like they hadn't seen a few Mig25s before. I think it got transported to the US for potential propaganda purposed. Basically on the grounds that it was the nearest thing to WMD that they could find. "OK so we didn't find any WMD, but we did find this MiG25 (mutters) that everybody knew they had anyway."
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@Bill and Jolly, Wright-Patterson has an awesome museum attached to it with some very unique planes. I imagine a mint condition looking M-25 was too good for them to pass up. I think they just expanded as well, so maybe they are looking to occupy space. It is worth a visit.
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I hope Iraq was compensated for this or gave its permission.
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