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

So what sort of missiles can we expect the MiG-41 to deploy once its finally operational? Khinzal? ASAT? Air-launched S-500?

Actually solid rocket fuel is not that cheap, but because the missile is basically an Iskander that is already in production for the ground troops this is an excellent short term solution to a problem likely to be fixed with a scramjet engine and liquid fuelled missile.

Ironically a two stage land based scramjet powered missile would be a great solution, where the first stage gets the missile airborne and headed towards the target while the second stage is a scramjet powered missile that climbs and accelerates to altitude and high speed and flys huge distances to its target at a speed faster than any fighter could take it.

A MiG-31 can move at mach 2.8 for about 750km and then turn around and head back home at that speed for that distance, or it could fly slower and therefore further with a much shorter acceleration to launch.

With a rocket weapon speed and altitude are important... launching Kh-22M based test missiles the Tu-22M3 was able to use its size and fuel capacity to launch missiles at mach 1.7 at an altitude of 14km, but the MiG-31 can to rather better than that in both regards and the better allows for better range and better speed of the rocket with its fixed fuel type and fixed acceleration.

With a scramjet powered missile it can use a throttle to vary its thrust and be rather more fuel efficient on its way to its target so being released by a slower lower altitude target wont effect its performance so much.

I am honestly surprised they don't already use S-350 type SAMS as AAMs... they are ARH missiles designed to hit a variety of air targets including manouvering ones, and S-400 and S-500 missiles would also be rather interesting in that regard too.

MiG-41 types flying faster and higher will just make everything longer ranged and more capable....

Also useful to put it on some longer legged platforms like TU-22. A TU-22 can probably carry at least 6 maybe 8-10 depending on packaging. So 2 planes can fire a massive salvo of missiles and they can deliver them much, much further then the MIG-31. No one would think much of 2 blips on the radar until suddenly their are 12-20 missiles inbound. Too late then.

Putting them on Tu-22Ms would dramatically reduce the range and flight speed of the missiles meaning you will have to fly closer to the targets and the missiles themselves will be slower and therefore easier to intercept.

A MiG-31K should be able to launch these missiles at mach 2.4 at an altitude of probably about 18km.

The Tu-22M3 could probably manage Mach 1.6... less if you want them to carry four of them.

These missiles are probably about 5 tons each... the main wing pylons could carry one each but certainly not two, and the large MER bomb positions under the air intakes might take two more missiles for a total of four missiles at best, which would be 20 tons of external weight... which will reduce flight radius at supersonic speeds to much lower levels than you are perhaps expecting.

Honestly the kinzhal is terrifying and they probably wouldn't even need more than six or eight of them to ravage the heart of a carrier group.

It is not often in history that an entire ship fleet is wiped out, and most of the time it would be unnecessary.

In fact I think the effect of firing just one missile and have it get through the air defences of a US carrier group or two would have more impact on the USN than having 50 launched at them.

Of course ships can't move as fast as aircraft can and certainly not as fast as Kinzhal missiles can so waiting till the ships are 1,000km away from your launch positions means even if you only have 12 MiG-31Ks and they launch and attack those ships and lets be super generous and say 12 separate hits and kills, and that leaves say 20 ships left... those 20 ships can't just hyperdrive zip out of the kill zone which they are 1,000km deep inside... those MiG-31s are designed to fly at mach 2.4 all day so it takes them 13 minutes to fly 750km which is their flight radius at that speed... launch the 12 missiles and then turn around and fly at mach 2.4 back to base... which will take another 13 minutes... land, refuel and rearm and take off again and 13 minutes later attack the targets again.

Assuming 20 minutes to rearm and refuel, the flight time round trip is 26 minutes... but if the ships are 1,000km away they don't need to fly 750km to launch their missiles... they can take off, climb to altitude and speed and launch at say 300km and cut the flight time there and back to 13 minutes with a rearm and refuel time of 20 minutes... so in effect they could be launching 12 missiles every 30 minutes... how many hours would it take a US carrier group to sail 1,000km?

And they have more than 12 MiG-31Ks...

It would be better to use the Tu-22M3s for other duties TBH.

Contracts for both MiG-31Ks and MiG-31BMs

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/12205897

any commanding officer would wish for warp speed at that very moment

Being attacked with Kinzhal... several ships will be achieving vertical warp speed in rapid succession... down to the sea floor.

Reminds me of when Percy asked Captain Blackadder what to do if you trod on a mine... I seem to remember he said jump 100 feet up into the air and spread yourself around the place a bit...

It is a shame they never went forward with the MiG-31M design...

It lost the gun, but could carry R-37M missiles in two rows of three missiles for a total of 6 belly missiles, and the front windscreen was redesigned into a one piece for the front section.

I seem to remember new engines that were going to be 16.5 tons thrust instead of the 15 ton thrust engines used currently.

Too expensive at the time sadly.

Digital FCS for the MiG-31, or am I understanding it wrong?

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/13023671

Hole wrote:Or FBW?

Yes, that was what I was referring too... if true it would mean that the platform is very far from being retired, what I would find excellent news by the way, because having a PAK-DP with extremely long range and even higher speed does not mean that the MiG-31 has lost any of its use. Cued by an air defence including Conteiner it can be used against stealth planes almost without any downside and the 100+ available units cannot be easily replaced anytime soon. I see it perfectly being used in parallel with the PAK-DP...

LMFS wrote:Digital FCS for the MiG-31, or am I understanding it wrong?

https://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/13023671

Yes, including onboard computers for remote control.

Sounds like all the components from the various republics are being replaced with new Russian equivalents, so that is good for the Russian makers of components and good for the military too.

Suspect the old lighting will be replaced with LED lighting using less power and being more compact and damage resistant and improving performance etc etc.

Hole wrote:I´m pretty sure that some of that new equipment will later be used in the PAK-DP.

That would make sense and be a win-win approach as followed with the Su-35, on the one hand the use of the modernized 4th gen platform as a test bed allows to reduce the gap to be bridged with the development of the newer one, and on the other it represents a backup plan in case the development does not proceed with the planned speed. Since MiG did not participate in the PAK-FA program and Sukhoi has stolen the initiative for a new 5th gen fighter (MiG-35/LMFS) to a great extent with the LTS, that would be their best chance to learn enough for the PAK-DP as of now, and it would have the advantage of addressing the particular requirements and challenges of a high speed interceptor platform.