A LIBYAN-based MiG-25U Foxbat C two-seat trainer crashed into the  Mediterranean, 62 miles north-west of Tripoli, on November 21. Both pilots ejected successfully but one drowned after landing. A Sicilian fishing vessel picked up the survivor and the body, and then sailed for Tripoli. The aircraft is thought to have crashed in at least 300ft of water, so salvaging by the Soviet Union or the West would be feasible. Two-seat versions do not, however, carry operational equipment, so a Nato recovery would be of limited value. Five Soviet-crewed reconnaissance Foxbats have been based in Libya since early last year and are used for surveillance missions over the Mediterranean.

The crashed aircraft is almost certain to have belonged to the same unit, since the type has never been supplied to a Warsaw Pact or non-aligned nation.

Originally based in Egypt, the Foxbat detachment moved out when President Sadat expelled the large Soviet training mission prior to the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Syria was the next temporary home, but political pressures prompted a move to Libya. In the early 1970s the Egyptian Air Force claimed to be operating Foxbat, but this was not true. Egypt now claims that the announcement was  made for propaganda purposes at the suggestion of the Soviet Union.