MOSCOW, September 15 (AVN) - The MIG aircraft corporation has asked the Russian government to allow demonstration of the new MIG-31BM long-range multipurpose attack plane at the Zhuhai 2000 air show in China, the plane's chief constructor Anatoly Belosvet said on Friday.
The Sokol aircraft plant in Nizhny Novgorod has built two MIG-31BM planes, Belosvet told the Military News Agency. One of them is being upgraded to the export version to be exhibited in China from November 6 to 12, but the plane's participation has not been authorised by the government so far.
MIG-31BM is designed on the basis of the MIG-31P Foxhound high-speed interceptor, intended for protection of Russia's northern frontiers from US strategic bombers B-1B, high-altitude air scouts SR-71 and cruise missiles, the constructor said. It was the world's first plane to be fitted with the Zaslon phased array radar.
Technological documentation developed by the Mikoyan design bureau's engineering centre and constructors of the Sokol plant envisage both production of new MIG-31BM planes and modernisation of earlier Foxhounds, Belosvet noted. The main difference between them is that Foxhound can only eliminate aerial targets, while the attack plane can also be used against ground installations.
MIG-31BN is capable of intercepting up to 24 aerial targets simultaneously and hit any flying objects ranging from low-altitude cruise missiles to supersonic aircraft of the future, the constructor said. A four-strong group of such planes can defend the front of 1,000km. When they are attacking ground targets, KAB-500 guided air bombs can be used.