MiG-31BM/Κ Interceptor/Attack aircraft: News

Ten MIG-31 fighter jets fitted with Kinzhal air-launched missiles on test combat duty

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Another MiG-31 - the carrier of the missile complex "Kinzhal"

A photo of another MiG-31 fighter - a converted carrier of an aerial ballistic missile of the Kinzhal air-launched missile system. This aircraft has the onboard number "98 red", and, according to known data, the MiG-31 carriers of this complex involved in the pilot-alert duty have on-board numbers starting in order from "90 red". The picture is dated in 2017.



The MiG-31 fighter (the side number "98 red") is a re-equipped carrier of the aeroballistic rocket of the Kinzhal air-launched missile system, 2017 (c) Dmitry SherHunter / russianplanes.net (link)


As it was already reported, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yury Borisov in an interview with Zvezda TV and Radio Company on May 5, 2018, announced the MiG-31 with the Kinzhal complex, that "today ten aircraft are on trial duty and ready for use depending on situation ". As can be seen, this statement by Y. Borisov is in principle confirmed by a known range of airborne aircraft numbers carrier of the complex.

The place for carrying out the specified pilot combat duty, as can be judged, is the airfield of the 929th State Flight Test Center of the Ministry of Defense named after V.P. Chkalov in Akhtubinsk (Astrakhan Region).

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Are there any differences of MiG-31K comparing with BM?? Except Khinzal carrying

Interceptor MiG-31 - a look from the West

According to the May issue of Air Forces Monthly in the article "One of a Kind", the Russian heavy fighter-interceptor MiG-31 has a maximum speed of 2.8M, and its supersonic range is 702 miles, at subsonic mode 1620 miles. Its unique feature is the battery of air-to-air missiles with a range of 108 miles, while the aircraft can be used autonomously or using a ground-based guidance system.

During its development in the 1960s, the MiG-31 required only one thing - to protect the USSR from the attacks by cruise missiles from strategic bombers and submarines from the vast expanses of the Far North and the Far East.



The key element of the MiG-31 is the fire control system RP-31 (Zaslon, S-800), which includes the radar 8BB (H007) - the world's first on-board radar with passive phased array antenna (PFAR), and the 8TK direction finder , the data exchange system APD-518 and the system for receiving commands from the ground 5U15K ("Rainbow-Bort-MB"). The main function of the "Screen" is to simultaneously track 10 targets and attack four of them, regardless of the location. One of the targets can fly in the stratosphere, another - at the ground, and the missiles will be directed to both targets. The crew of MiG-31 consists of a pilot and navigator-operator of weapons in the rear cabin, which works with radar and weapons. The R-33 missile has a range of 65 miles, and its P-33C modification ("article 520") is equipped with a nuclear warhead. The P-33 is designed for the MiG-31, and no other fighter can use it.


Modernization of MiG-31BM

In the first half of the 2000s, the Russian Air Force loaded the RAC "MiG" with a work on the upgraded version of the MiG-31BM with improved radar and missiles. The first modernized MiG-31BM (on-board number "58") made its first flight in September 2005 and was sent for testing to Akhtubinsk in December of that year. It was followed by a second car (onboard number "59") and a third ("60"), in which improvements were made.

The first stage of the State tests of the MiG-31BM was successfully carried out in November 2007, after which a permit for serial modernization was obtained. The most modern MiG-31B was modernized first, followed by older MiG-31BS, which after the upgrade were named MiG-31BCM. MiG-31BC, in turn, were upgraded versions of the MiG-31 or MiG-31DZ, which were in operation with the later MiG-31B.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia placed the first contract for the modernization of the supposedly eight MiG-31 on April 1, On March 20, next year, the Nizhny Novgorod plant "Sokol" handed over the first two upgraded MiG-31BMs to the air force for re-training in Savvasleyke. A major contract for the modernization of 60 MiG-31B in the MiG-31BM version was signed with the Sokol plant on August 1, 2011.

UAC signed the second contract for the modernization of 54 MiG-31 on November 21, 2014. It was carried out jointly by Sokol and the 514th aircraft repair plant in Rzhev in the period 2015-2018. Rzhev Plant is responsible for a small part of the contract. For example, in 2014 five machines were modified here, and in the next year - two more. To date, almost all serviceable MiG-31s ​​have been upgraded. The rest must be finalized by the end of 2018.

Radar

The main goal of modernization of the MiG-31BM is the possibility of using new missiles, as well as the development of the radar by introducing new modes and increasing the range of its operation. The upgraded fire control system Zaslon-AM (S-800AM) includes the upgraded 8BM radar with the new Baget-55-06 processor, which replaced the old Argon-15A. The radar has retained a passive phased array antenna.

It is claimed that the detection range of the new radar is 130 miles for a target of the "fighter" type, which is twice as large as that of its predecessor. The radar can accompany 24 targets and can fire six of them simultaneously. The radar "Zaslon-A" is being further developed into the "Zaslon-AM" version by the manufacturer - the Leninets company (so in the text - bmpd) for the NIIP NIIP project. Tikhomirova. The direction-finding machine 8TK remained unchanged.

In the cockpit (front), the analog instruments were replaced with 127x127 mm monitors placed on the front panel. The rear cabin received 152x203 mm monitors instead of cathode ray tubes.

The aircraft is equipped with a modernized radio station P800L and an improved navigation system, including the A737 satellite navigation receiver. The glider and engines do not change, but the glider resource lasts up to 30 years or 3500 flying hours. It is possible that in the course of planned repairs the resource will be extended.

Externally, the MiG-31BM can be distinguished from the old modifications due to the absence of a central pylon, which was previously intended for suspension of the R-40TD missile, and which was replaced by a more compact pylon for the suspension of the R-73 and R-77-1 missiles. These missiles can also be used from the second underwing pylon, which was previously used only for suspension of a suspended fuel tank. Another difference was the appearance of a periscope over the pilot's head.

The maximum take-off weight of the MiG-31BM is 46835 kg, the flight range reaches 1,242 miles, but the conditions for its achievement are not disclosed.

New missiles

The MiG-31BM armament was supplemented by four R-37M missiles with a range of 108 miles. The prototype of the R-37M missile ("product 610M") was first launched from the MiG-31 in 2011, and the state tests were completed in 2014. The missile is mass-produced at the enterprise of the Corporation "Tactical Missile Armament" in Korolev. The missile is equipped with a GOSFET-610MSH. The MiG-31BM can also carry four short-range R-73 missiles, which replaced the much outdated R-40TD medium-range missiles and obsolete R-60s.

It is expected that at the next stage of modernization of the MiG-31BM will receive medium-range missiles R-77-1 and K-77M. He will be able to carry four such missiles on the underwing pylons. If you look at the distant future, the MiG-31 can be equipped with a missile "product 810", developed for the Su-57 fighter. Then the software for the radar "Zaslon" will be updated. The installation of a new thermal direction finder is also being considered. Finally, a new flight control system KSU-31 is being developed.

Where are the MiG-31s?

After the flight of the first prototype on September 16, 1975, the Sokol plant produced 519 interceptors in 1976-1994. This number included 349 early MiG-31, 101 MiG-31DZ and 69 MiG-31B. Large-scale production was carried out until 1990, then it was braked and stopped in 1994. The last MiG-31 left the shop in April 1994. The first part, which received the MiG-31 for service, was the 786th Fighter Regiment, based in Pravdinsk [Gorky Region]. He was declared combat-ready in 1983.

Currently, there are about 130 MiG-31s ​​in the Armed Forces. Another 130 are in storage, and approximately 65 of them are on the territory of the 514th ARZ in Rzhev. MiG-31 is in service with the regiments in Bolshoy Savino, Kansk, Khotilovo, Monchegorsk, Central Corner, Elizovo and Savasleika. Approximately 10 aircraft are used for testing in the 929th State Flight Test Center of the Ministry of Defense in Akhtubinsk.

130 MiG-31 in storage allow creating several more aviation units in case of availability of financing. In the Far East, it is planned to restore the 530th Fighter Regiment in Chuguevka. Since 1975, the regiment flew on the MiG-25, and since 1988 - on the MiG-31. It was liquidated in 2009, and the squadron of serviceable MiG-31s ​​was redeployed to the Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airfield and included in the part of the part based there. The airfield of Chuguevka is periodically used. For example, on a satellite image from June 2016, it detects 11 MiG-31. Probably, they were transferred here for the time of exercises from the airfield Central Corner. As part of the military construction in the Arctic, Russia announced the creation of new airfields for the MiG-31 in Tiksi and Anadyr, but the work there has not yet begun.

Future offers

Several sources report that RSK "Mig" is working on new versions of the MiG-31 under ambiguous designations "product 06" and "product 08". Perhaps one of them is associated with the "Dagger" system. Another may be a new modification or an airplane of a completely different purpose, for example, a satellite interceptor.

More than 30 years ago, in January 1987, MiG-31D ("product 07") made its first flight. It was the carrier of the anti-satellite missile 79M6. The missile and interceptor formed the anti-satellite complex 30P6 "Contact". Two prototypes of MiG-31D were produced. In 1991, work on the MiG-31D and its development MiG-31DM with an improved 95M6 missile were discontinued. After the collapse of the USSR, both prototypes of MiG-31D remained in Sary-Shagan in Kazakhstan, where they were examined.

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