(Image: Google Earth; Tiyas airbase, home to abandoned MiG-25 Foxbats)
It’s unclear how many Syrian Air Force MiG-25 Foxbat fighter jets remain in service, but of around 38 in the original inventory, it’s thought that most now stand idle on dusty desert airfields. Head to Tiyas airbase in central Syria on Google Earth and you’ll find around two dozen Russian-built MiG-25 interceptors, alongside a handful of other abandoned jets, parked on hard standings across the sprawling airfield, seemingly defunct.
(Images: Google Earth)
Now examine the same scene via Bing Maps (see below), photographed at a later date. The satellite images reveal something in the region of 27 apparently derelict Foxbats, some of them clustered in revetments, others towed out into the surrounding desert.
(Images: Bing Maps)
Tiyas airbase, also known as T4, is one of the largest military airfields in Syria. At its peak the facility housed three MiG-25 units alongside two squadrons of Su-22 Fitters and Su-24 Fencers respectively (a Russian Air Force version of the latter was shot down by Turkish F-16s yesterday for allegedly violating their sovereign airspace).
(Image: Bing Maps)
The Syrian Air Force operated both the interceptor and reconnaissance version of the supersonic Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25, a high performance Soviet design that first flew in 1964 and is capable of mach 3 at high altitude. But it’s understood that most of the ageing jets were withdrawn from service around 2011 as Syria collapsed into a brutal and bloody civil war.
In June year citizen journalism website Bellingcat reported:
No less than three fighter-bomber squadrons and one helicopter squadron are currently operating out of T4, including the pride of the SyAAF: its Su-24M2s. The airbase is also home to the now decommissioned MiG-25 fleet, largely phased out in the previous decade. Despite being Syria’s largest airbase, T4 only has one runway, making the airbase extremely vulnerable in case this single runway gets taken out.
(Image: Google Earth)
The scenes on the ground at Tiyas airbase reflect the above report, as dozens of ageing Foxbats languish in the desert surrounding the airfield. But while Bing shows the old MiG-25 hulks parked out on the sand, their former dispersal pans remain empty. Satellite images reveal few signs of life at the vast facility, and any operational aircraft are clearly kept under lock and key in hardened shelters.
(Image: Google Earth)
In November 2011 an attack in the Homs Governorate reportedly carried out by members of the Free Syrian Army – a group committed to toppling the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad – against a bus carrying military personnel is said to have resulted in the deaths of 10 people, including six Syrian Air Force pilots. The attack is thought to have been carried out at a military airfield, though it’s unclear whether the base in question was T4 or Shayrat.
Like Tiyas, Shayrat also bears all the hallmarks of an aircraft graveyard, as the carcasses of abandoned MiG-23s lie strewn across the vast, isolated military base.
Related – Buried MiG-25 Foxbat Jet Uncovered in Iraqi Desert
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