MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Supernumerary MIG-31 Foxhound fighters of the Air Force will be mothballed at Sokol, a Nizhny Novgorod-based aircraft plant, in order to make them the Air Force mobilization reserve, Vladimir Mikhailov, Air Force Commander, told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
"I have met with the director general of the Nizhny Novgorod- based Sokol aircraft plant and we agreed on the transfer of the MIG-31 interceptors to the plant in order to save the aircraft from being cannibalized," Mikhailov said. He emphasized that they would be mothballed at the plant that had produced them.
"In a contingency, we will be able to examine them, adjust, and send for active duty," he said.
The MIG-31 entered the inventory in May 1981. All in all, Sokol made more than 400 MIG-31s and MIG-31Bs.
A normal take-off weight of the twin-seater (a pilot and an operator) is 41t, the maximal up to 46.2t. The aircraft has two D- 30F6 engines with a thrust of 15.5t each. The maximal airspeed is 3,000kmph. The operational range without refueling is 3,300km.
The MIG-31 has a unique Zaslon phased-array radar capable of tracking and attacking several aerial targets at a time. The aircraft has a six-barrel 23-mm GSh-23 cannon and four R-33 long- range (basic) missiles. In addition, the fighter can carry up to four R-60 short-range and R-40T medium-range missiles.
The main difference between the basic version and the MIG- 31B derivative is that the latter has the upgraded Zaslon-A arms control system and longer-range modified basic missile. The aircraft can also be used as an aerial command post transferring data on the targets to the ground and to other aircraft. A group of four Foxhounds can defend an airspace front of up to 1,000km.
Now the MIG Corporation has developed a number of other MIG- 31 derivatives: MIG-31M, MIG-31E (E stands for export), and MIG- 31FE.
Experts say that the Foxhound is the most powerful aircraft in its type across the globe, having no matches where armament and maximal airspeed are concerned.