As today one Russian MiG-31 interceptor fighter decided to try to search for the ghost of the cruiser Moskva at the bottom of the lake on the Kola Peninsula, a handful of non-obvious facts about the MiG-31: Over 500 produced.
In 2022, there were 130 (or 200) machines in long-term storage bases in hangars (Russian sources vary). Of course, these 200 have no chance to get airborne in a week. However, their raid is minimal.
The structure was designed for 3,500 flight hours (30 years of use) until major overhaul. The last MiG-31 was produced in Russia in 1994. D30F6 engines were discontinued a few years later. In 2022, there were 4 failures involving the MiG-31 in Russia.
None of them had anything to do with the current war. But before that, there had never been so many breakdowns a year. For example, in December 2022, the MiG-31K engine caught fire in Belarus. In 2011, the Sokół plant from Nizhny Novgorod signed a contract for the modernization of 50 MiG-31s to the MiG-31BM version by 2019.
After three years, SP FR received 18 modernized MiG-31BM. And another contract was signed for the modernization of a further 50 MiG-31s by 2018. In 2019, a third contract was signed and it will be closed in 2023. Versions: MiG-31B - the last production series.
MiG-31BS - without the possibility of air refueling
MiG-31BSM - modernization from 2014
MiG-31BM - modernization from 1998.The most common in the Russian Air Force. Radar with a range of 320 km. Guide missiles to 10 targets simultaneously.
MiG-31D - experimental
MiG-31DZ - version with the possibility of refueling in the air (first)
MiG-31I (Iszim) - version for launching into orbit 300-600 km of small satellites (120-160 kg)
MiG-31K - version carrying missiles Kindzhal
MiG-31LL - flying aviation laboratory
MiG-31M - modernization 1993
MiG-31F - multi-role version with the ability to strike ground targets
MiG-31FE and MiG-31E, export versions of the MiG-31BM. (No country bought yet
)
Armament:
23mm six-barreled cannon (260 rounds)
6-8 external rocket suspension points
Rockets: (selection depending on the tasks) R-33/S, R-37, R-40/RD, R-77, R-60/M, R-73, R- 74M, Kinzhal (the one with a range of up to 1000 km).
Units: 790 plm (Bologoye), 712 plm (Kansk), 22 plm (Centralnaya Uglovaya), 317 pl (Petropawlovsk-Kamchatsky), 98 pl (Monchegorsk). And it was this regiment that lost its MiG-31 today.
Other: Can land on ice and makeshift runways. It can refuel 17,330 kg of fuel (7 fuel tanks in the fuselage, 5 in the wings, 2 in the tail).
Top speed 3000 km/h.
Ceiling: up to 30,000 m.
Disadvantages (Russian forums say numerous), but probably the most important is low maneuverability.
Without refueling: 3 hours 20 minutes in the air.
Crew: pilot + navigator.
Price (estimated) USD 35-45 million.
PS. Location about 10 km south of Monchegorsk, in the area of the island of Riz Guba (Риж-Губа).
Russia has about 1,200 spare engines for the MiG-31. In 2016, the then director of the corporation producing MiGs, Sergei Korotkov, said that after 2028 all MiG-31s will end the so-called. service life, i.e. periods of "usefulness" for flights.