Editing Viktor Belenko (section)

==Aftermath==
The MiG-25's arrival in Japan was a windfall for Western military planners. The Japanese government had originally allowed the United States to examine the plane and to conduct ground tests of the radar and engines only; however, it subsequently allowed the US to dismantle the plane to examine it extensively.<ref>New York Times, 22 September 1976, column 4.</ref>  The plane was moved by a US Air Force [[Lockheed C-5 Galaxy|C-5 Galaxy]] cargo aircraft from Hakodate to [[Ibaraki Airport|Hyakuri Air Base]] on 25 September, and by then, experts had determined that the plane was an interceptor, not a fighter-bomber, which was a welcome reassurance for Japanese defense planners.<ref>[https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=327520&dt=2082&dl=1345 UNCLAS State Message 239736], U.S. State Department, 27 September 1976.</ref>

On 2 October 1976, the Japanese Government announced that it would ship the aircraft in crates from the port of [[Hitachi, Ibaraki|Hitachi]] and billed the Soviets US$40,000 for crating services and airfield damage at Hakodate.<ref name="barron">''MiG Pilot: the Final Escape of Lt. Belenko'', John Barron, 1980, {{ISBN|0-380-53868-7}}.</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2020}} The Soviets responded with a request to return the plane via their own [[Antonov An-22]] aircraft after a rigorous inspection of the crates. The Japanese government refused, and the Soviets finally submitted to the Japanese terms on 22 October 1976.<ref>[https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=311620&dt=2082&dl=1345 JAPAN-SOVIET RELATIONS: NEGOTIATIONS FOR RETURN OF MIG-25, TOKYO 15888 221325Z] (Confidential), U.S. State Department, 22 October 1976.</ref> The aircraft was moved from Hyakuri to the port of Hitachi on 11 November 1976 on a convoy of trailers. It left in 30 crates aboard the Soviet cargo ship ''Taigonos'' on 15 November 1976 and arrived about three days later in [[Vladivostok]].<ref name="fi1976">[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1976/1976%20-%202747.html Flight International], 27 November 1976, p. 1546.</ref> A team of Soviet technicians had been allowed to view subassemblies at Hitachi, and upon finding 20 missing parts,<ref>[https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=280711&dt=2082&dl=1345 SHARING MIG 25 INFORMATION WITH THIRD COUNTRIES, TOKYO 220903Z NOV 76] (Secret), U.S. State Department, 22 November 1976.</ref> one being film of the flight to Hakodate,<ref name="fi1976" /> the Soviets attempted to charge Japan US $10 million. Neither the Japanese nor the Soviet bill is known to have been paid.<ref name="barron" />{{page needed|date=September 2020}}

A senior diplomat described the Soviet position as "sulky about the whole affair."<ref>[https://aad.archives.gov/aad/createpdf?rid=280618&dt=2082&dl=1345 JAPAN-SOVIET RELATIONS: NEGOTIATIONS FOR RETURN OF MIG-25, TOKYO 16354 021113Z] (Confidential), U.S. State Department, 2 November 1976.</ref> The CIA concluded at the time that "both countries seem anxious to put the problem behind them" and speculated that the Soviets were reluctant to cancel a series of upcoming diplomatic visits because "some useful business is likely to be transacted, and because the USSR, with its political standing in Tokyo so low, can ill-afford setbacks in Soviet–Japanese economic cooperation."<ref>[http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/5829/CIA-RDP79T00975A029500010014-9.pdf NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY CABLE, Monday 8 November 1976] (Top Secret), Central Intelligence Agency, 1976.</ref>