MiG-31 Plamya-Lisa

History

With the MiG-25's idea of nuclear-based, high-speed blitzkrieg warfare proving fruitless, and the resulting pilot attrition beginning to take its toll on the Soviet Army, the leaders of @The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ordered the various design bureaus and agencies under it to develop a TSF with higher survivability.

Mikoyam Guluvich, using the MiG-25 as a base, quickly developed the @MiG-31 Plamya-Lisa as an improved TSF, replacing the nuclear capabilities of the MiG-25 with the AIM-54 Pheonix missile system, as well as introducing a two-seater cockpit system to reduce pilot stress; the front seat belonged to the pilot, while the back seat was used by the fire control operator. The TSF featured massive improvements over the original Spirt-Voz, chief among them new avionics, complete with ECM and improved detection capabilities, as well as new lightweight composite material armor that reduced the TSF's weight by 18%. This improved the TSF's responsiveness and increased its mobility by 40%; with the MiG-25's high-speed capabilities retained in the MiG-31, this has resulted in a unit capable of much-improved close-combat capabilities, especially with the addition of @Close Combat Dagger, and later Blade Motors, to the MiG-31's arsenal. The AIM-54 system used by the Plamya-Lisa was also improved, holding up to 10 Phoenix missiles from the F-14's six.

The TSF's massive changes in firepower and mobility resulted in the adoption of its current nickname of "Plamya-Lisa" by Soviet forces.

Deployment

Deployed in 1990 as the replacement of the MiG-25. Several variants exist as improved models.

Variants

MiG-31M

The MiG-31M is an improved variant manufactured by the East Germans, made possible with western technology.

MiG-31SM Foxhound

The MiG-31SM is an improved variant under NATO/US naming conventions and supervision.

MiG-31AN3

A tentative name given to the proposal for the Soviet Union to use the MiG-31 as the premier TSF for Alternative III. Despite its combat capabilities, and more importantly, being of Soviet origins as Alternative III was, the unit lost the selection competition to the F-14. Because of the UN's overwhelming insistence on using the F-14AN3, political motivation was suspected, especially in light of Sufoni securing the contract to maintain the F-14AN3.