I'm not an aviation buff, but I heard a story over drinks one night with a US pilot and I'd like to get it debunked or confirmed, perhaps someone here can do that for me.

Supposedly, the MiG 25 was designed for one mission only, to shoot down the US supersonic bombers that were being planned at the time. When the US abandoned those programs, the Foxbat found itself without anything to do, a white elephant and an enormous drain on resources for the Soviet Air Force. However, the plane was successful, in full production, and had developed a big political and industrial constituency that resisted its being phased out. Some attempts were made to find a Naval Air role for it, but they were only marginally successful. So the turkey kept flying, because too many careers were already invested in it.

I always found this story amusing, if for no other reason than to illustrate the Red military-industrial complex shared a lot of characteristics with the West's.