Mikoyan MiG-31 FOXHOUND

This comparison makes no sense. As is not hard to guess, the MiG-31 doesn’t need to chase the SR-71 when it has the Mach-5 R-37 missile with a range of nearly 300 km. Besides, air-defense systems have also evolved significantly since the days of the S-200. It’s simply a different era now
 
Squirrel said:
''Создание системы автоматического управления и топливопитания – особая страница в истории Д-30Ф6. Тогда впервые в отечественной практике был разработан и внедрен электронный цифровой вычислитель в качестве основного регулятора режимов работы ТРДД (РЭД-3048). Электронновычислительное оборудование было создано специалистами Пермского агрегатного конструкторского бюро (ПАКБ) под руководством А.Ф. Полянского, а затем Г.И. Гордеева.

По причине низкой в то время надежности элементной базы на двигателе Д-30Ф6 были установлены две системы управления: основная – цифровая – РЭД-3048 и дублирующая – гидромеханическая САУ. Идеология, алгоритмы и доводка электронно-гидромеханической САУ и топливопитания выполнялись совместно МКБ и ПАКБ (в настоящее время – ОАО «СТАР»).''

''The creation of the automatic control and fuel supply system is a special chapter in the history of the D-30F6. It marked the first time in domestic practice that an electronic digital computer (RED-3048) was developed and implemented as the primary regulator for turbofan engine operating modes.
The electronic computing equipment was created by specialists from the Perm Aggregate Design Bureau (PAKB) under the leadership of A.F. Polyansky, and then G.I. Gordeev.

Due to the low reliability of the component base at that time, two control systems were installed on the D-30F6 engine: the main digital one – RED-3048 and the backup one – a hydromechanical ACS.
The ideology, algorithms, and refinement of the electronic-hydromechanical automatic control system and fuel supply were carried out jointly by the MKB and PAKB (currently, JSC STAR).''

Source: https://military.wikireading.ru/hTd59Fn7H3

''Electronic-hydraulic system of automatic engine control is duplicated by hydraulic system ensuring safety of flight and back-up function in case of electronic system malfunction.''

http://www.leteckemotory.cz/motory/d-30f6/?en
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For a minute I thought the RED-3048 FADEC was a recent design, until I saw reference to 1970's which ties in with Western use. Reminds me of Tornado using a digital/electronic engine control and a separate hydromechanical engine control system before reverting to all electronic/digital for Eurofighter.
 
Wotan said:
In the real life this would very unlikely to happen. The soviets did not succeed to stop Blackbird operations not even with their integrated air defence system and the Mig-25 interceptors, which were even faster than the Mig-31.

Now the locations of former soviet early warning radars is NATO teritory. And the russians have only around 100 aircrafts to cover their vast territory. The SR-71 can just appear at the russian border and go round the several bases which operate the Mig-31. The SR-71's designed cruise speed is bigger than the Mig-31 maximal speed, no chance of chasing the Blackbird from behind.
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Hm,SR-71 could only fly close to USSR air space ( or over international waters) and that was completely legal.With MiG-25 and later MiG-31 there was very little or no chance to enter domestic air space. Of course everything was in 'right on time' long-range detection/tracking of incoming SR-71 than calculating.

They flew in complete radio-silence mode and with use of long-range IRST '8TK' only ,they could detect SR-71 from 100-120km but not from the rear hemisphere ( that would be already late).Interceptions were always done in so called 'meeting course' , 'head to head' with different angle aspects.

Citation:

''The scheme for intercepting the SR-71 was computed down to the second, and therefore the MiGs had to launch exactly 16 minutes after the initial alert. During this period of time the ground vectoring station determined what route (out route or return route) the SR-71 was following.''

USAF SR-71 was retired during 1989 after two decades of operational use in strategic recce misions.On the other side ,MiG-31 is operational from 1980 and will be so one more decade min.

Red_air said:
This comparison makes no sense. As is not hard to guess, the MiG-31 doesn’t need to chase the SR-71 when it has the Mach-5 R-37 missile with a range of nearly 300 km. Besides, air-defense systems have also evolved significantly since the days of the S-200. It’s simply a different era now
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Story dates back to 1980's. It is based on the MiG-31 pilot's experience during his 14 intercept missions.In his time ,there were two operational versions of MiG-31,the basic one and the DZ with the in-flight refueling probe.Main AAM's were heavy long range inertial and radar guided R-33 and IR guided R-40TD. There is no more SR-71 ( practically 35 years) but MiG-31 now in version BM stays as the main 'airguard' of the Russian air space. MiG-31BM now can be armed with older R-33/S and newer R-37M,than with new R-77-1/L and R-74(L/ML).
 
goldmastersims said:
Someone on a Discord server has scanned and uploaded a copy of the manual "Flight and Technical Characteristics of the MiG-31 Aircraft"

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...2f59a59b1cd236bb5f50ae46c690b4df61d0f6ca25a7&
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Now some part of the 'Technical Manual' for the Izdelie 01 ( basic version) on 109 pages.

MiG 31 КОНСПЕКТ САМОЛЕТА ИЗД 01 По С и Д. Tehniceskoe opisanie

https://www.scribd.com/document/518...САМОЛЕТА-ИЗД-01-По-С-и-Д-Tehniceskoe-opisanie
 
Ronny said:
There is something very interesting here:
According to the manual, at altitude of 8-9 km, the placard speed limit is around Mach 1.8
However, in this test:
Mig-31 reached speed of 669.3 m/s at altitude of 8,480 meters, that would be equal to Mach 2.17
View attachment 780128
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Correct my mistake earlier
The correct altitude of the Mig-31M in the test were 13,400 meters rather than 8,480 meters
Scott Kenny said:
Huh. So much for the "wintertime density-altitude shenanigans" option...
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Seem like the correct answer is more simple than we thought, the author simply get the wrong altitude value
 

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Squirrel said:
USAF SR-71 was retired during 1989 after two decades of operational use in strategic recce misions.On the other side ,MiG-31 is operational from 1980 and will be so one more decade min.
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Although the SR-71 Blackbird was officially retired in 1989 its' last flight was in 1999, from the SR-71 wikipedia page:

1990s​

  • 6 March 1990: Last SR-71 flight under Senior Crown program, setting four speed records en route to the Smithsonian Institution
  • 20 March 1990: SR-71A #61-7964 (17964) last flight. Delivered to Offutt AFB for permanent display. On display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.
  • 25 July 1991: SR-71B, AF Ser. No. 61-7956/NASA No. 831 officially delivered to NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California
  • October 1991: NASA engineer Marta Bohn-Meyer becomes the first female SR-71 crew member
  • 28 September 1994: Congress votes to allocate $100 million for reactivation of three SR-71s
  • 28 June 1995: First reactivated SR-71 returns to USAF as Detachment 2
  • 9 October 1999: The last flight of the SR-71 (AF Serial No. 61-7980/NASA 844)
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Some shots of a couple Foxhounds with the Killmarks they acquired throughout the war.
 

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AGS-1787 said:
Can we assume some of these are drone kills too?
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If it flies and gets shot down it counts, drone, missiles you get the idea. These are certainly not all manned aircraft. But the ratio would probably surprise many. The MiG-31s are not generally used to intercept long range drones or the rare cruise missile. Other drones, helicopters and "lesser" aircraft like the older Su-27s and Su-30s are commonly utilized in that role. While MiG-31s and Su-35s keep the air space clean. Obviously the MiG-31K is a specialized long range strike aircraft and thus an exception.
 
Scott Kenny said:
Killmarks question:

How does RusAF count kills on a 2-crew bird? Does each crew member have a separate kill count, or do they share the kills (because the WSO and pilot always fly together)?
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I'm not sure and someone more knowledgeable correct me here, but I think they count for both/the whole aircraft.

How does the US handle it with Tomcats, Eagles and Hornets?
 
Bort number '592 blue' as the first prototype of the MiG-31B with N007A 'Zaslon-A' ( late 1980's) and then as the first prototype of the MiG-31BM with N007AM 'Zaslon-AM' ( on MAKS 2005).

As the first prototype/demonstrator of the MiG-31B with extracted IFR probe, three R-33 ,one K-33 and two R-40TD models.

mig31b-3.jpg

With OKB Mikoyan test pilots and RIO's.



mig-31-010-second-left-capt-valery-menitsky.JPG


As the first prototype/demonstrator of the MiG-31BM on MAKS 2005 .

IMG_1647.jpg

https://www.kornev-online.net/MAKS2005/page_01.htm
 
Squirrel said:
Bort number '592 blue' as the first prototype of the MiG-31B with N007A 'Zaslon-A' ( late 1980's) and then as the first prototype of the MiG-31BM with N007AM 'Zaslon-AM' ( on MAKS 2005).

As the first prototype/demonstrator of the MiG-31B with extracted IFR probe, three R-33 ,one K-33 and two R-40TD models.
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Are you sure those look like 2x R-40R done as a weight/drag test
 
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Aeria Gloria said:
Are you sure those look like 2x R-40R done as a weight/drag test
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In fact, those were IMM ( imitatsiono massovoy model) .It cannot be for the R/RD although we can see something like radome/conical form there.Certainly for the TD as the only R-40 version MiG-31 could carry until BM variant occuried.
 
Squirrel said:
In fact, those were IMM ( imitatsiono massovoy model) .It cannot be for the R/RD although we can see something like radome/conical form there.Certainly for the TD as the only R-40 version MiG-31 could carry until BM variant occuried.
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Your photo said it isn’t BM but literally the first demonstrator prototype of the B. Such things happen to prototypes. They don’t need to load a missile they can fire something with right size and weight is fine. It’s definitely not TD, I’m sure it’s the training round.
 

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Aeria Gloria said:
Your photo said it isn’t BM but literally the first demonstrator prototype of the B
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Read again my comment above the first photo.

Aeria Gloria said:
It’s definitely not TD, I’m sure it’s the training round.
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Missiles under the wings are IMM or UD/UL version. 'TD' definitely not , hm maybe N007A Zaslon-A on MiG-31B was really tested with RD version ? Who knows....

With two R-40TD's ,training 'UL'- version .
 

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''MiG-31 interceptor fighters at the Graham Bell ice airfield on the Franz Josef Land archipelago; ~ April 1988.
The fighters in the photo are from the 174th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, which was part of the 21st Corps of the 10th Air Defense Army.
The regiment's base airfield was Monchegorsk in the Murmansk region, and the fighters arrived at the ice airfield to participate in exercises, during which they practiced intercepting targets flying from the northern direction, and the targeting of which was carried out with the help of the A-50 AWACS and UAV aircraft.''

''Greem Bell (Russian: Греэм-Белл, lit. Graham Bell) is an airfield of the Russian Air Force in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It is located on Graham Bell Island in the Franz Josef Archipelago, 1372 km north of Khatanga, and is the northernmost airfield in Russia, at latitude 81°N. It is an ice airfield operational only during the winter months, roughly from the end of November to the beginning of March, and uses the internal callsign XLDG. Greem Bell Airfield was shut down in 1994, but re-opened in 2012. From the early 1980s it was regularly visited by Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-31 aircraft of the 10th Independent Air Defence Army of the PVO in Arkhangelsk.''

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greem_Bell_Airfield
 

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Very interesting story ....

I was the first foreign pilot to fly the Mach 2.8 MiG-31 interceptor, here’s my story: By Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd)​



Source: https://hushkit.net/2020/12/18/i-wa...res-my-story-by-air-marshal-anil-chopra-retd/

He flew in MiG-31 on 28 May 1999 as he mentioned.

Note: one foreign fighter pilot flew before him. He is Col. Bozidar Martinovic of the Yugoslav AF who flew in the MiG-31 together with Valery Menitsky ,OKB Mikoyan chief test pilot. It was during 1996.
 
From another thread ...

@paralay

''type 28 — a modernized type 12
type 78 — It looks no different from type 58
type 58 — modernized type 01BS
type 85 — MiG‑31BSM, a modernized type 01BS and type 01DZ
type … — updated type 28 and type 78''

I know that some sources mentioned 'MiG-31DZM' but also it is known that in the VKS, BM is the only version. So there is no BSM and DZM at all ( as military/VKS designation) ?

If I remember well ,first contracts for the NAZ 'Sokol' in the N.Novgorod and then 518 ARZ in the city of Rzhev was for the 113 modernised BM's from the serial B's and previously overhauled/modernised BS 's ( variant B but w/o the IFR probe). After that ,BM was made from the DZ ? Than after that from the serial MiG-31's -basic version ??? In total ,more than 180 aircraft were modernised to BM level ?
 
From the YT-channel :

''The MiG‑31’s climbing program under ground command guidance. In 6 minutes and 12 seconds after the start of the programmed climb, it reaches 20,6 km at Mach=2.35 consuming 4,300 kg of fuel. Data are also provided for lower final altitudes and speeds. 100% internal Fuel, Engine mode — full afterburner, 4 R‑33. The vertical speed during the programmed climb reaches 140–160 m/s.The MiG-31 has better acceleration than the MiG‑25 in the subsonic and transonic ranges. At high supersonic, this situation is opposite. At M=2.83 at 20 km, the R‑15 has more than 30 % greater thrust than the D‑30F6 (although on the bench, the thrust of the R-15 is 40 % lower). Also, the MiG‑31 has a greater weight and a slightly larger mid‑section. Nevertheless, in terms of thrust, the armed 31 can exceed M 2.83, without missiles it can go beyond M  3 — though not by much. At a high altitude, the maximum thrust-achievable speed of the 25 with 4 R-40 exceeds the corresponding speed of the 31 in a clean configuration. At sea level, they have the same thrust-achievable speed in a clean configuration (~ 1500 km/h); 31 can routinely achieve it, while the 25 cannot (due to a IAS limitation). With 4 missiles, the 25 is subsonic, the 31 is supersonic.''

Source: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxWTPJ6oS3ahUm7j1sNv2ypcAxZ2r3NxH6
 

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