MOSCOW, December 8 (AVN) - Two new MIG-31BM multi-purpose attack fighters have arrived at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in the town of Zhukovsky near Moscow to undergo flight tests, Anatoly Belosvet, the planes' chief constructor, said on Wednesday.
The fighters were assembled at the Sokol aircraft plant in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, Belosvet told the Military News Agency. They are going to replace MIG-31P long-range high-speed interceptors in the Russian army.
Belosvet declined to disclose technical characteristics of the new plane. He said, however, that when used in the air-to-air regime, MIG-31BM is capable of simultaneously tracking up to 24 targets and homing missiles at eight targets, ranging from low-altitude cruise missiles to hypersonic aircraft. A group of four such fighters can defend the area of up to 1,000 kilometres in width, he stressed.
Technologic documentation for the fighter was developed by the engineering centre of the Mikoyan design bureau and designers of the Sokol plant.