Fictional MiG-31 and The Movie "Firefox"

[TsrJoe]

Is there a source for that ?
my understanding was it was very much a conceptual design designed to look cool and menacing abiet loosely based upon company graphics filtering through at the time, eg. ATF. etc.

 

[Hydroman]

Is there a source for that ?
my understanding was it was very much a conceptual design designed to look cool and menacing abiet loosely based upon company graphics filtering through at the time, eg. ATF. etc.

It was something I read years ago and was primarily due to the nose of the Firefox related to the F-117.

 

[The K2]

I have also heard a story (cannot remember the source) that Ben Rich of the Skunk Works was shown the blueprints of the fighter by someone on the production crew and asked if the plane might be revealing something that it shouldn’t (probably to avoid a visit by the FBI). But he gave the OK.
Here is a screencap from a “making of” video of a charity event on the premiere of Firefox. Clint with DoD Casper Weinberger with one of the FX models.

 

[The K2]

Someone scanned the Cinefex issue on the FX of Firefox. Modelmaker Greg Jein states the “soldering iron head” nose was chosen because of its unique design and to help facilitate the optical effects work.
https://archive.org/details/CineFex_1982/CineFex 1982/10/images/Cinefex-10-p41-img01.png

 

[publiusr]

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dyhKHuu0UTw&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D

 

[Scott Kenny]

For sheer menace, the fictional MiG-31 is hard to beat even now.

IMO it's a major improvement aesthetically over F-15/MiG-25/MiG-31 shapes at being something really different.