Upgraded MiG-31s for Russian Air Force

Sixty modernised MiG-31 interceptors are to be delivered to the Russian Air Force within the next nine years, it's been announced.

The upgraded MiGs will boast a host of hi-tech features, essentially giving new capabilities to a design already several decades old.

These features will include boosted avionics, digital datalinks, all-colour displays in the cockpits and the ability to be equipped with a new generation of AAMs (Air-to-Air Missiles), with the option of fitting new ASMs (Air-to-Surface Missiles), too.

MiG Upgrades

That's according to a report on the MiG upgrades, published by news agency RIA Novosti and referencing the Russian Defence Ministry.

The upgraded design will be known as the MiG-31BM and, along with the additions listed above, it'll also have integrated a multimode radar, with a 320km range and the ability to follow up to 10 targets simultaneously. This will replace the Zaslon S-800 radar presently fitted, which has a similar performance but is limited to 200km.

"We are planning to upgrade more than 60 MiG-31 interceptors to the MiG-31BM version by 2020", Russian Air Force representative Vladimir Drik told the organisation at the end of 2011.

Russian Air Force MiG-31s

The MiG-31 made its first flight in 1975 and joined the Russian Air Force - still amongst its only operators - seven years later. Over the course of about a 20 year production run, around 400 examples of this vastly capable interceptor were constructed.

Fitted with a pair of Soloviev D-30F6 turbofans, producing up to 34,000 pounds of static thrust each, Russian Air Force MiG-31s can fly at speeds in excess of Mach 2.8 at altitude. They each weigh a staggering 56 tonnes when fully loaded - more than any other current, in-service interceptor.

According to Ria Novosti, the Russian Air Force MiG-31 fleet is an essential element of the country's defense network, intended to counter all externally-launched airborne threats - cruise missiles and ballistic missiles among them.