In Soviet times, many miracles in the history of human industry were born, and the MiG-31 fighter was one of them. This fighter was developed on the basis of the MiG-25 fighter and was officially put into service in 1983. Nearly four decades into it, the fighter has held three important records in the world fighter space, and it is expected that no fighter will be able to beat the record it set four decades ago for the foreseeable future.
The first thing to mention is that the MiG-31 is still the fastest flying fighter in the world. Under ideal conditions (such as flight altitude and air flow conditions), the MiG-31 can fly at speeds close to Mach 3, and can reach about 2 under normal conditionsHigh speed at Mach 8. This is not only far beyond the average fighter, but even the flight speed of many air-to-air missiles is difficult to compare with the MiG-31. For example, the most advanced F-22 fighter jet in service in the United States has a maximum speed of 2Mach 25, far inferior to the MiG-31. In addition, the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile in service in the United States has a maximum flight speed of only 2Mach 5, so the MiG-31 can easily shake off the air-to-air missile attack of the US military and quickly escape from the risk area.
Due to the high speed of the MiG-31 fighter, the Russian army usually sends this aircraft to escort the world's fastest bomber, the Tu-160 White Swan bomber. For example, in July 2022, two Tu-160 aircraft were recorded by Russian forces flying for up to seven hours over the Barents Sea, supported by MiG-31 fighter jets belonging to Russia's Northern Fleet.
Boeing Secondly, the MiG-31 remains the world's highest-flying fighter in service. According to the data of relevant parties, the practical ceiling of the MiG-31 can even reach 240,000 meters, far more than the average fighter 1About 80,000 meters. Since its flight altitude is so high that it has almost reached the near-earth surface, NATO even gave the MiG-31 the nickname "Stratospheric Monster". The Soviet Union once developed a MiG-31D fighter on the basis of the MiG-31 specifically for striking satellites for near-earth anti-satellite operations. Therefore, the MiG-31 can be said to be a "space fighter", which is really breathtaking!
Comparatively speaking, the actual flight altitude of the most advanced F-22 in service in the US military is only 19,812 meters, or even less than 20,000 meters.
The largest fighter remains the MiG-31, which reaches 22 in length69 meters, wingspan 1346 meters, 615 meters. To illustrate the aircraft's enormous size, we also found a photo of it in the same frame as the Boeing-737. With a capacity of more than 100 passengers, the Boeing-737 is a large airliner with a length of 31 meters, a wingspan of 28 meters, and a height of 11 meters, which looks only slightly larger than the MiG-31 fighter.
The MiG-31 has been around for almost 40 years since its inception and remains one of the main fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces. After improvements, this fighter has been given a new lease of life. At present, Russia is restarting research on the "anti-satellite version" of the MiG-31D, and uses the MiG-31 as an airborne platform for its latest Dagger hypersonic missile. It is expected that the number of the latest improved MiG-31M in service will reach more than 130 units, and the first aircraft have been officially delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces.
Obviously, this 40-year-old aircraft still retains the style of "immortality" and will continue to accompany us for a long time.