Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 & MiG-31

During the Cold War the Soviet Union desparately needed an fighter capable of intercepting the new high and/or fast flying US airplanes like the SR-71, B-70 and U-2. This became the mighty MiG-25 with NATO reporting name Foxbat. The MiG-25 has two hugh engines in the rear fuselage, closely spaced and side-by-side. They are fed by wedge shaped air intakes at the sides of the fuselage, and having the same height as the fuselage. In between is a long pointed nose with a relatively small canopy. Furthermore, the Foxbat has large single wheel main landing gears, retracting in the side of the fuselage, and a double wheel nose gear. On top of the engines are double vertical stabiliser of a nearly triangular shape, and having pointed tops. They are not tilted. The wings are placed on top of the fuselage. Their shape is something between regular swept wings and cropped delta wings, but leaning more towards the first.

The MiG-31 Foxhound looks like a second generation MiG-25, but is actually a rather new design bearing a close resemblance to the MiG-25. It is mainly longer, has a tandem canopy and double wheel main gears.

Compared to similar airplanes the MiG-25 has hugh air intakes and a tiny canopy.

Eventhough the engines of this MiG-25 have been removed you can still see that their diameter is quite large and the engines are as high as the height of the fuselage.

How to recognise the different versions of the MiG-25 & MiG-31

The different versions of the MiG-25 and MiG-31 can be distinguished by looking at (amongst others)

the number of canopies and their shape
the presence of camera windows in the nose
the number of wheels on the main landing gear
the shape of the wings

More details will be added later.

Similar aircraft

Some airplanes look so similar to the MiG‑25 & MiG‑31 that you may confuse them. Below you can read how to distinguish them.

Differences MiG-25/31 & F-15 Eagle

In general, the F-15 Eagle has much of the same appearance as the MiG-25, including the wedge-shaped air intakes, double vertical stabilisers, two engines and (nearly) cropped delta wings, but it is smaller. The F‑15 however has a distinctive bubble canopy, no pointed tops of vertical fins and a single wheels nose gear.

Differences MiG-25/31 & F-14 Tomcat

The F-14 Tomcat has high wings like the MiG-25 and MiG-31, but the have a variable sweep angle. It also has double vertical stabilisers, but these are slightly tilted outward. Moreover, the F-14 has a long bubble canopy, inward tilted air intakes, space between the engines and a main gear retracting in the wing roots.

Differences MiG-25/31 & F-22 Raptor

Unlike the MiG-25 and MiG-31 the F-22 Raptor also has two outward tilted vertical fins with a trapezium shape, a single seat bubble canopy and rectangular air intakes, but of a different shape when viewed from the side. Also it has regular, fixed delta wings.

Differences MiG-25/31 & MiG-29

The MiG-29 Fulcrum has the same basic characteristics as the MiG-25/MiG-31, including the shape of the vertical stabilisers, but with one big difference: the wedge shaped air intakes are underneath the forward fuselage instead of on the side of the fuselage. Moreover, the MiG-29 has regular swept wings and a bubble canopy.