How the combat capabilities of the missile system have changed, the main carrier of hypersonic "Daggers" will be a modification of the MiG-31 combat aircraft, which received the index I.
This version of the interceptor is equipped for the first time with unique digital complexes — an electric control system and on-board computers. They allow in fully automatic mode, without the intervention of the pilot, to bring the fighter to the desired launch trajectory and launch a hypersonic missile at exactly the right moment.
The new version, as sources in the military department told Izvestia, the fundamental decision to make the MiG-31I the main carrier of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile has already been made.
The first experimental MiG-31I machines have already been run-in. In particular, they participated in the maneuvers of the strategic forces that took place earlier this year. On February 19th on the website kremlin.ru the scheme was published, according to which the MiG-31I with the GZAR "Dagger" as part of these maneuvers hit a sea target and a ground object at the Pemboy training ground.
According to the interlocutors of the publication, the main difference between the MiG-31I and the older version of the "K" is the presence of special electronic systems that increase the flight characteristics and capabilities of the aircraft. As the sources of Izvestia noted, the MiG-31K will also continue its service.
And the MiG-31K fighter with hypersonic missiles "Dagger" on board The image source: Photo: TASS/
Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation/Vadim Savitsky — Any aircraft is constantly being improved.
The new car, I think, will be much better in terms of reaching the specified parameters," Honored Test Pilot Igor Malikov told Izvestia. — The electric control system manages all processes. The computer receives all the data: speed, altitude, information from the Ground. All this makes the pilot's work more comfortable. The system is constantly being refined specifically for this product, because it is large.
The expert noted that on the first machines, as a rule, pilots must independently bring the aircraft to the necessary operating modes. According to the results of all tests, the necessary parameters are entered into on-board computer systems, which are installed on a modified modification of the aircraft.
Earlier in August, the Defense Ministry reported that as part of strategic deterrence, three aircraft with supersonic Kinzhal missiles were relocated to the Chkalovsk airfield in the Kaliningrad region During the flight, issues of interaction with fighter aircraft of the 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense and naval aviation of the Baltic Fleet were worked out, the department noted.
On August 21, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Armed Forces used a "Dagger" three times during a military operation on the territory of Ukraine. According to the minister, all three times the complex has confirmed its brilliant characteristics.
— Actually, no one has such a rocket yet: both hypersonic, and with such speed, and with such penetrating capabilities. It is impossible to detect or intercept it," Sergei Shoigu said.
Destruction of the position of multiple rocket launchers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Image source: Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Air—based Dagger missiles - the newest type of strategic weapons.
For the first time, they were announced by President Vladimir Putin in a message to the Federal Assembly in 2018. According to official data, the rocket is capable of reaching a speed of Mach 10 (the speed of sound). Given the fact that they can maneuver on the flight path, it is believed that it is almost impossible to intercept such hypersonic missiles: air defense systems will detect a flying object too late and simply will not have time to react.
As reported by Izvestia, a regiment of MiG-31 missile carriers equipped with hypersonic Dagger missiles has already been formed as part of Long-range Aviation.
The time-tested MIG-31 was the first Soviet fourth-generation fighter.
Initially, it was intended to intercept cruise missiles and other complex aerial targets. The aircraft has outstanding characteristics in terms of speed, altitude and flight distance — it can accelerate up to 3 thousand km / h and climb more than 20 km. The flight range exceeds 3 thousand km. Various modifications of the aircraft have been repeatedly used as carriers of advanced weapons systems and even for launching spacecraft into orbit.
In the early 2010s, the issue of discontinuing the operation of the MiG-31 was discussed. However, in the end, it was decided to leave the aircraft in service, and later to modify it for the Dagger system.
In the first "dagger" version of the MiG-31K, the aircraft lost its "fighter" radar equipment, instead it received a new communication and targeting system. Due to the size and weight of the product, the center of gravity of the aircraft has changed. This required retraining of pilots. Until now, only highly qualified crews could use "Daggers" — this required maintaining a high-speed mode and flight path.
Photo: TASS/Press Service of the RF Ministry of Defense Image Source: iz.ru In fact, the modified MiG-31K performs the function of the "first stage" of the rocket.
It accelerates and gains a higher altitude, after which it performs a start. The targeting system allows you to enter a flight task directly from the aircraft.
A year ago, at the Army-2021 forum, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the company RSC MiG for the repair and modernization of MiG-31 aircraft into a variant of the hypersonic Daggers carrier. And in November last year, representatives of the Sokol aircraft factory reported to Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko that an upgraded version of the MiG-31, an interceptor fighter with an electric control system, was undergoing state tests in Russia.
— There is a variant of modernization of this aircraft, where we switch from a mechanical control system to an electric one, as a result, a number of computers appear that are put on board, — the company said.
In recent years, Russia has been equipping the infrastructure for the parts of the VKS that will receive "Daggers". In several regions of Russia, arsenals for storage and sites for repair, maintenance and testing of missiles are being prepared.
Anton LavrovRoman Kretsul</span>
