lets say the article is correct.
but this raises the question why the russians actually didnt shoot down the SR71???
Where they not willing to do so?
Nah, the history shows us that they russians where always trigger happy and did not hesitate to shoot at suspect planes- see the U2 and the Korean 747. And keep in mind what propaganda victory this would be, just take a look what happend as the F117 was shot down over serbia.
Where they able to do so?
i think thats the point, they werent able to shoot the SR71 down. There are a lot of what if, some of them:
-the SR71 and accelarated over mach 3.2
-the SR71 climbed much much higher
-did successfully jam the MIG 25 radar
-the MIG 25 couldn t get a fire solution, because of above and other reasons
lets get back to the facts, there was never a SR71 shot down and the russians where willing to do so - anytime.
Jaeger