Moscow. January 16. INTERFAX-Long-range fighter-interceptors MiG-31BM are deployed in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago for combat duty in the Arctic, the press service of the Northern Fleet (SF) reported on Saturday.
"The crews of MiG-31BM fighter-interceptors of the separate mixed aviation regiment of the Northern Fleet took up an experimental combat duty to protect the state border of the Russian Federation in the airspace on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago," the report says.
Earlier, the commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Federation, Admiral Sergei Avakyants, said that the MiG-31 long-range interceptors are stationed in Anadyr (Chukotka) for combat duty in the Arctic.
Anadyr is a city in the far north-east of Russia, the administrative center of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Chukotka in the east has a maritime border with the United States.
The MiG-31 is a long-range supersonic fighter-interceptor designed for long-term patrol and combat with high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, strategic bombers and low-flying targets. The aircraft is capable of simultaneously hitting six and escorting up to 10 air targets.
The Russian Armed Forces receive upgraded MiG-31BM aircraft. As reported by Interfax, this aircraft in the modification of the MiG-31K became the first aircraft carrier of hypersonic weapons - the Kinzhal missile system.