Monday, April 18 2005 11:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Mig-25, Indian Air Force's (IAF) most hush-hush plane and one of the two fighters in the world capable of flying upto stratosphere is about to be bid a grand farewell, according to IAF sources said in New Delhi.

The aircraft, whose appearance in the skies in early eighties created ripples in the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) alliance and has proved to be a vital intelligence-gathering work horse for the country in every crisis, is about to be phased out.

Capable of flying upto a height of 70,000 to 80,000 feet and attain speed upto three times faster than sound, Mig-25 codenamed Foxbat by the NATO alliance has been used by the IAF as a super spy plane.

Though the IAF officials were tight lipped, the aircraft, mounted with high resolution cameras, was said to have been used for reconnaissance purposes when Indian armed forces were deployed in Sri Lanka in Operation Pawan in 1987 and in the year-long forward deployment "Operation Parakram" in 2001-2002.

Always kept under veils of secrecy since its acquisition in the early 1980s, the super spy plane has never been shown in public and the exploits of its dare-devil pilots, though recorded, are not allowed to hit the limelight.