Article Summary: The MiG-31 Foxhound, originally designed as a high-speed interceptor, is now serving as a Kinzhal hypersonic missile carrier in Ukraine. While Russia hypes the Kinzhal as unstoppable, Ukrainian Patriot missile systems have repeatedly intercepted it, exposing its vulnerabilities.
Key Point #1 – The MiG-31 itself, though powerful, is a 40-year-old airframe with high maintenance costs and poor maneuverability. Once meant for replacement, budget constraints and the ongoing war have kept it in service.
Key Point #2 – Despite Putin’s claims, the Kinzhal is not invincible, and its effectiveness is increasingly in question. How much longer can the MiG-31 stay relevant?
MiG-31 Foxhound: Russia’s Hypersonic Missile Truck in Ukraine
The MiG-31 was designed to replace Russia’s gas-guzzling, overhyped MiG-25. The air superiority fighter featured better radar, superior engines, and a reported top speed of Mach 2.83.
The MiG-31 itself was supposed to be replaced by now, but a tanking economy and a war in Ukraine that has dragged on for three years have forced Russia to keep updating its older aircraft.
Russia is now using the MiG-31 as a missile truck in Ukraine. The aircraft has been deployed with the hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile.
A Brief Look at the MiG-31
The MiG-31, codenamed Foxhound by NATO, was designed in the 1970s and entered service in the 1980s, at the apex of the Cold War.
Its predecessor, the MiG-25, was designed for speed. Its task was to intercept long-range bombers or reconnaissance aircraft.
It was reputed to be able to reach Mach 3 for short distances. But while its engine produced great power, it was a noted gas guzzler and horribly inefficient.
When Soviet defector Viktor Belenko flew a MiG-25 to Japan in 1976, American and Japanese military experts were thrilled.
The Soviet propaganda arm had presented this plane as being comparable to a spacecraft from Star Wars.
But analysts found all the Soviet hype about the fighter was nonsense. It had no guns, no aerial refueling capability, and a radar from the vacuum-tube era. Visibility was so bad that pilots had to be guided toward targets by surface radar operators. It wasn’t maneuverable.
(Things have not changed in Russia. Remember that when you hear Moscow’s fantastical claims about aircraft such as the Su-57 and Su-75.)
The MiG-31 was a leap forward. At the time of its debut, its radar was considered the best in the world, and the aircraft’s speed and engines were big improvements over previous Russian fighters. The aircraft has a high service ceiling, ample fuel capacity, and considerable weapons storage.
One of the drawbacks of the MiG-31 is its lack of maneuverability; it, too, was built for speed. Further, the cost of maintaining and operating the plane is high.
The airframe is over 40 years old, and while the past four decades have seen great advances, this is 1980s technology. The aircraft’s radar cross-section is enormous by contemporary standards.
The aircraft was earmarked for replacement, but budgetary concerns and the war in Ukraine curbed any new aircraft designs. So the Russians converted Mig-31s from air superiority fighters to missile trucks—a smart move made out of necessity.
What About the Kinzhal Missiles?
When the state-owned Tass news service reported the MiG-31 performed drills in the Mediterranean while carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, the West took notice.
Included in the drills were over 1,000 personnel, 10 ships and support vessels, and 24 aircraft—including Russian Aerospace Forces MiG-31I fighters carrying Kinzhals—as well as a Bastion coastal-defense missile-system crew.
During his State of the Nation address in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin touted the new missile in a typical Russian manner.
“Its speed makes it invulnerable to current missile and air defense systems, since interceptor missiles are, simply put, not fast enough,” Putin said. “It is quite understandable why the leading armies of the world seek to possess such an ideal weapon. Friends, Russia already has such a weapon.”
Russia continued to hype the Kinzhal (Russian for “Dagger”) after launching several of the missiles to destroy a Ukrainian weapons depot in 2022.
However, in 2023, Ukraine used a U.S.-provided Patriot missile battery to shoot down a Kinzhal missile fired from a MiG-31.
The Patriot technology is 40 years old, and it shot down a weapon that Putin, as Mark Grus from Aerospace America pointed out, claimed could not be shot down. Since then, Patriot missiles have continued to shoot down Kinzhal missiles.
They are dangerous weapons, yes, but they are not invincible.
MiG-31: A Story in Pictures
MiG-31 from Russian Air Force. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
MiG-31. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
MiG-31 fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet equipped with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile flies over Red Square during a rehearsal for a flypast, part of a military parade marking the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia May 7, 2022. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
A Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ALBM being carried by a Mikoyan MiG-31K interceptor.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a 19FortyFive National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing for 19FortyFive, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
