providing the radar with new modes and
extended range. The upgraded Zaslon-
AM (S-800AM) fire control system has an
improved 8BM radar controlled by a new
Baget-55-06 computer that replaced the old
Argon-15A. The radar’s passive electronically
scanned antenna remains unchanged.
The range of the upgraded radar is claimed
to be 130nm for a fighter-type target, twice the
previous range. It can track 24 targets and
engage six of them simultaneously. Zaslon-A
radars are repaired and upgraded to Zaslon-
AM standard by the radar’s manufacturer, the
Leninets plant in St Petersburg, under a project
defined by the Tikhomirov NIIP institute in
Zhukovsky. The 8TK IRST remains unchanged.
In the pilot’s (front) cockpit, some analogue
instruments are replaced by a 5 x 5in (127 x
127mm) LCD mounted on the upper right-
hand side of the instrument panel. The
WSO’s (aft) cockpit is retrofitted with two 6
x 8in (152 x 203mm) LCDs in place of the
former cathode-ray tube (CRT) screens at
the centre and right of the front panel.
The aircraft is retrofitted with new
communication devices (R800L radios) and
an improved navigation system including
the A737 satellite navigation receiver. The
airframe and engines remain unchanged;
however, the airframe is overhauled to extend
its lifetime to 30 years or 3,500 flight hours.
It is possible that a subsequent round of
repairs will provide another life extension.
Externally, only two details distinguish the
MiG-31BM from previous versions. The
large weapons pylon (previously intended
for the R-40TD; AA-6 Acrid) is removed from
the wing and replaced by a smaller pylon,
suitable for R-73 (AA-11 Archer) and R-77-1
AAMs. R-73 and R-77-1 missiles may also
be carried on the second underwing pylon,
previously used only for a drop tank. Another
Thanks to its high-altitude cruise speed of Mach 2.35,
the MiG-31 is a useful platform for various weapon
systems, in addition to its standard interceptor function.
On March 1, 2018, during his state of the nation
speech, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin presented
a video display about a strike system named Kinzhal
(dagger). This consists of a MiG-31 carrying an Iskander
ballistic missile on the centreline pylon. The 9M723
Iskander (SS-26 Stone) surface-to-surface missile
has been operated by the Russian Army since 2007;
it is 24ft (7.3m) long and weighs around 4 tonnes.
The video presented by Putin showed the take-off of a
test aircraft belonging to RAC MiG, MiG-31 ‘592 Blue’,
with the missile carried on the centreline pylon. After
the missile’s separation from the aircraft, the forward
and aft fairings were jettisoned, and the rocket motor
started. Next was an animation showing the missile
hitting targets, comprising a warship resembling a
US Navy Ticonderoga-class cruiser and a building.
During his speech, Putin said that evaluation of theKinzhal had been completed and “since December
1 of last year, the complex commenced test-combat
duty on airfields of the Southern Military District”.
Other sources indicate that the Kinzhal has been
deployed at the 929th Test Centre at Akhtubinsk.
Putin disclosed that “the missile flies at hypersonic
speed, ten times greater than the speed of sound,
performs manoeuvring on all flightpath segments that
allows it to overcome with guarantee all existing and,
I think, future anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence
systems, and to deliver nuclear and conventional
charges to targets at a distance of more than 2,000km.”
On March 10, Russia’s defence ministry released
another video shot at Akhtubinsk and showing the
take-off of MiG-31s ‘91 Red’ and ‘93 Red’, each
with a single Kinzhal missile under the fuselage.
Deputy commander of the Akhtubinsk centre Valery
Antsibor said that “since the beginning of this
year, over 250 flights have been made within test-
combat duty and combat training of the crews.”Kinzhal
hypersonic
missile
MiG-31 ‘93 Red’ carries a Kinzhal missile during
tests at Akhtubinsk in the winter of 2017-18.
Russian MoDhttp://www.airforcesmonthly.com #362 MAY 2018 // 51