MiG-31BM interceptor fighters took the Northern Sea Route (NSR) under protection. The aircraft of the Northern Fleet aviation squadron will be on duty at the island and mainland airfields in the Arctic. The part was deployed back in 2019 in Monchegorsk. But since the end of 2020, the aircraft have a new task. Now, if necessary, they can be quickly relocated to any of the more than a dozen repaired airfields along the NSR.
MiG-31BM interceptor fighters took the Northern Sea Route (NSR) under protection. The aircraft of the Northern Fleet aviation squadron will be on duty at the island and mainland airfields in the Arctic. The part was deployed back in 2019 in Monchegorsk. But since the end of 2020, the aircraft have a new task. Now, if necessary, they can be quickly relocated to any of the more than a dozen repaired airfields along the NSR.
The MiG-31 is the world's most powerful fighter-interceptor. Thanks to the unique radars, the aircraft sees both high-altitude targets flying at hypersonic speed, and cruise missiles hiding at ultra-low altitudes. Due to the fact that the take-off weight of the interceptor exceeds 30 tons, the troops call it a "combat airship".
Arctic interceptors
As sources in the military department told Izvestia, the fighters of the new Arctic squadron of the 98th separate mixed aviation regiment of the 45th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense will be on duty at airfields along the NSR route on a rotational basis. At the same time, the main point of their basing will remain Monchegorsk, the interlocutors of the publication noted. All last year, the unit conducted experimental exercises on the operation of aircraft along the NSR. The command recognized the results of the maneuvers as successful.
Until recently, the composition of the 98th regiment had only one squadron of MiG-31BM interceptors. But in 2019, the formation of the second unit of "combat airships" began. Now, while one squadron of MiG-31BM will cover the Kola Peninsula and the fleet bases, the crews of the other will be on duty in the remote northern territories.
In January, the Defense Ministry reported that MiG-31BM fighters had already taken up combat duty to protect the border at the Rogachevo airfield in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Earlier, the Northern Fleet's air defense regiment was stationed there, which is armed with the latest S-400 systems.
According to the Honored Test Pilot, Hero of Russia Colonel Igor Malikov, the MiG-31BM is well suited for flights in the Arctic.
— In principle, all our equipment is designed to work at temperatures from -50 to +50, - the specialist explained to Izvestia. - The MiG-31BM is a complex machine, but it is quite capable of performing all tasks in the Arctic Circle. It has a long range, effective radar, and new precision and long-range missiles. By and large, such aircraft will be able to completely block the airspace over the Arctic.
The decision to cover the northern direction with the MiG-31BM is quite logical, military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia.
- The NATO fleet can go there. In addition, there are many stationary alliance facilities in and near Norway, in particular, command posts, " he explained.
According to Vladislav Shurygin, the decision not to relocate the Arctic squadron to Novaya Zemlya on a permanent basis corresponds to the modern Russian concept: to create a network of airfields to which aircraft can fly if necessary. They will be on combat duty there for a limited time, perform tasks and return back.
Snow-covered airfields
According to the Defense Ministry, 19 airfields have been repaired or reconstructed in the Arctic in recent years. All-weather year-round runways are being built on the islands of Alexandra Land in the Frans-Joseph Land archipelago and Kotelny on the Novosibirsk Islands. They are capable of receiving both combat and transport aircraft that support the military bases built there. But we are not talking about creating a full-fledged infrastructure for large aviation units.
— We need to build hangars, otherwise the planes will be covered with snow, and then they will not be warmed up and run. Accommodation is needed for pilots, technicians, and other personnel. There must be snow-plowing equipment. To maintain an air base there, it is necessary to build a whole town, " Igor Malikov believes in turn. — And with the approach chosen by the Ministry of Defense, only the commandant's office will be located at the polar airfields, which will maintain it in working order. And the pilots will fly there, in fact, on business trips, and not live there with their families.
The restoration of runways and infrastructure in remote northern regions will contribute to the development of their transport and tourist accessibility. But the main tasks remain the military. After all, the construction of a network of permanent airfields in the Arctic started in the USSR immediately after the Great Patriotic War. It was planned to base strategic bombers on them. Then they were the only possible way to deliver the first nuclear bombs to the United States.
Subsequently, they were based on aviation regiments equipped with MiG-31 and Tu-128 interceptors. Their task was to prevent a breakthrough from the northern direction of American strategic bombers and cruise missiles fired by them to the industrial facilities of the Urals and Siberia, to the bases of the Northern Fleet. In the 1990s and 2000s, Russia's military presence in the region declined sharply.
Work on the restoration of mainland airfields began in 2014. Since 2017, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have been landing in Vorkuta and Anadyr during the exercises. They visited the updated polar bases and strategic missile carriers Tu-160.
Versatile " MiG»
The MiG-31 supersonic interceptors entered service in 1981. But now almost all the vehicles available in the troops, since 2011, have been upgraded to the level of the MiG-31BM.
MiG-31BM fighters received additional capabilities to combat the air enemy. The interceptor was equipped with new avionics and a modern radar with an increased range of up to 320 km. It allows the use of air-to-air missiles that destroy targets at a distance of up to 280 km. Ammunition is being developed with even greater reach.
Special variants were also created on the basis of the MiG-31. The most famous of them are the projects of an anti-satellite rocket carrier and a platform for launching small space satellites into low-Earth orbits.
Now the first squadron of MiG-31K aircraft equipped with hypersonic Dagger missiles has been put on combat duty in the Southern Military District. They are designed to defeat well-protected ground targets at a distance of up to 1.5 thousand km.