In May 1997, an Indian Air Force Mikoyan MiG-25RB reconnaissance aircraft created a
furor when the pilot flew faster than Mach 2
over Pakistani territory following a
reconnaissance mission into Pakistan airspace.
The MiG-25 broke the sound barrier while
flying at an altitude of around 65,000 feet, otherwise the mission would have remained
covert, at least to the general public. The
Pakistan Government considered the breaking
of the sound barrier was deliberate to make
the point that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had
no aircraft in its inventory which can come close to the MiG-25's cruising altitude (up to
74,000 feet). India denied the incident but
Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Gohar Ayub Khan,
believed that the Foxbat photographed
strategic installations near the capital, Islamabad
However, from one of PAF's Forward Operating
Bases, radar traced the intruder and the F-16As
scrambled. Sources in the PAF said that there was
no need to intercept a plane flying at the altitude
of 65,000 feet as the F-16 can reach an operating
ceiling of 55,000 feet.