The highest a jet has ever flown under its own power is not an American record, and it is nearly half a century old. On August 31, 1977, Soviet test pilot Alexandr Fedotov zoom-climbed a MiG-25 to 37,650 metres — 123,523 feet — and no air-breathing aircraft has beaten it since.
That is more than 23 miles up, well into the black of near-space, where the sky overhead turns dark and the curve of the Earth is unmistakable. The Foxbat got there not by cruising but by trading raw speed for height in a ballistic lunge toward the edge of the atmosphere.
Quick Facts
- Pilot: Alexandr Fedotov, Mikoyan chief test pilot
- Date: August 31, 1977
- Aircraft: a specially prepared MiG-25 (designated Ye-266M)
- Altitude: 37,650 m (123,523 ft) — FAI absolute record
- Technique: a high-speed "zoom climb"
- Status: still the absolute altitude record for an air-breathing jet
How You Fly to the Edge of Space
No jet can sustain level flight at 37 kilometres — the air is far too thin for wings or engines to work. So Fedotov did what record-setters do: he accelerated to high supersonic speed in the thick lower atmosphere, then pulled up and let momentum carry the aircraft upward like a thrown stone. Near the top, the engines were starved of air and the controls went mushy, the jet coasting on inertia alone before nosing over and falling back into breathable sky.
The Plane the West Feared
The MiG-25 was built as a high-speed, high-altitude interceptor, and Western intelligence badly overestimated it — until a defector handed one over in 1976 and revealed steel construction and vacuum-tube electronics. Yet the Foxbat's brute performance was real, and the altitude record is its enduring proof. Fedotov, a Hero of the Soviet Union, would die in 1984 testing the MiG-25's successor, the MiG-31. His record outlived him, and it has outlived every jet built since.
Sources: Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) record listings; National Museum of the U.S. Air Force; The Aviation Geek Club.
Related Questions
What is the highest altitude a jet has ever flown?
The absolute altitude record for a jet is 37,650 metres (123,523 feet), set on 31 August 1977 by Soviet test pilot Alexandr Fedotov in a specially prepared MiG-25. It remains the highest flight ever achieved by an air-breathing jet aircraft.
Who set the jet altitude record?
Alexandr Fedotov, Mikoyan's chief test pilot, set it on 31 August 1977. Flying a specially prepared MiG-25 (designated Ye-266M), he reached 37,650 metres — a record recognised by the FAI that still stands today.
How does a jet reach such extreme altitude?
No jet can fly level at 37 km — the air is far too thin for wings or engines. So Fedotov used a zoom climb: he accelerated to very high speed in the dense lower atmosphere, then pulled up and coasted ballistically to peak altitude on momentum before the engines starved of air.
What plane holds the jet altitude record?
A specially prepared MiG-25, designated Ye-266M, holds it. The MiG-25's enormous engines and high-speed performance made it uniquely suited to the zoom-climb technique that carried Fedotov to 37,650 metres in 1977.
Has the jet altitude record ever been broken?
No. Fedotov's 1977 mark of 37,650 metres remains the absolute altitude record for an air-breathing jet. Rockets and rocket planes have gone far higher, but no jet has matched it in nearly half a century.
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