MiG-31 planes will intercept ballistic missiles, Izvestia reports, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry.
The newspaper writes that "last year, new exercises for intercepting targets-simulators of ballistic missiles were included in the combat training program as an experiment," and such use of fighter-interceptors became relevant after the termination of the operation The Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF).
"They are starting to appear near our borders, so we need to have the means to destroy them. These missiles will be deployed in Europe, and we must be ready to repel attacks, " said the former commander of the 4th Army of the Air Force (Air Force) and Air Defense (Air Defense), Lieutenant General Valery Gorbenko.
In February, military expert Peter Butovsky, in the pages of the American magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology , said that Russia is not able to independently create a promising long-range interception aircraft complex (PAK DP), known as the MiG-41.
In January, Izvestia, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry , reported that MiG-31BM interceptor fighters will protect the Northern Sea Route (NSR).
Ivan Potapov