Doc have you heard about this yet... Communication received this news
about a week ago. Everyone was on a no=talk about this until now..

MiG-31M
April 27, 2007
Russia has completed testing of the latest version of its MiG-31
interceptor. The MiG-31 is itself an upgrade of the MiG-25, which was
developed to deal with the American B-70 bomber. When the United States
cancelled the B-70 in 1967 (too expensive, and a decision to go with
bombers that come in low and fast), the Russians kept going with the
MiG-25, and switched its role to reconnaissance. The MiG-25 turned out
to be an excellent recon aircraft, able to fly higher and faster than
other fighters used for this job, although not as high as the American
U-2 or SR-71. But the United States did not sell those aircraft to
anyone, while Russia made a lot of money selling MiG-25s to anyone with
enough cash. Russia also made a lot of money training the two man crew
required for each aircraft.


The MiG-31 fixed a long list of MiG-25 problems, and is a very
impressive interceptor. The 46 ton aircraft has passive sensors, with a
range of 200 kilometers, and radar guided R33 missiles, with a range of
150 kilometers. Other missiles are carried, as well as smart bombs. The
MiG-31 is not very maneuverable, but it is fast (able to sprint at up to
3,200 kilometers an hour). Like the original MiG-25, it does not have
much range (720 kilometers combat radius). The latest version, the
MiG-31M, is actually an accumulation of upgrades. This works has been
under way since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But since then,
about 200 of the remaining 350 MiG-31s have been upgraded, or are in
line for the work. Originally, 500 MiG-31s were built in the 1980s. In
the last few years, the MiG-31 fleet has gotten a lot more money, and
readiness (for combat) has gone from under 25 percent, to over 75
percent.



The MiG-31 is the mainstay of Russian air defenses, at least as far as
interceptors go. But the MiG-31 fleet is spread thin across Russias vast
borders, and squadrons tend to be concentrated in areas where they might
encounter high performance intruders (China and Europe). Russia is
hoping that there's an export market for the MiG-31M, although it's
unlikely that they will resume production. There are a hundred MiG-31s
in storage, which can be refurbished and upgraded to MiG-31M standards.