On 16 May, Russian Air Force MiG-31K fighter jets fired Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ballistic missiles at the Patriot air defense system in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, reportedly successfully destroying the command/radar vehicle and five launch batteries. According to Russian sources, the Patriot fired 32 surface-to-air missiles in an attempt to intercept the incoming attack, but none hit the target, an operation that highlighted the limitations of NATO’s top long-range air defense system, as well as the MiG-31K and its main weapon . Entering service in late 2017, the number of MiG-31Ks in service has rapidly increased, with more than 30 currently believed to be in service – although some estimates put the number at more than 40. These aircraft were not newly built, but took advantage of Russia’s vast inventory of several hundred Soviet-built MiG-31 airframes that were quickly stockpiled after the end of the Cold War. With post-Soviet Russia unable to afford operating costs, many aircraft flew only a fraction of their service life before being mothballed, putting the Russian Air Force in a good position to rapidly expand its active Foxhound without starting new production fleet.
The MiG-31K has joined the fleet of more than 100 active MiG-31BM/BSM interceptors, these models are designed for ultra-long-range air-to-air combat and accordingly carry very large air-to-air missiles, such as the R-37M . The MiG-31 is designed with a long range and a huge missile carrying capacity, can accommodate the world’s largest air-to-air missile, and is currently the world’s heaviest air-to-air combat aircraft. This class of radar Zalson-M is also by far the world’s largest radar used in air combat, several times larger than the radars on widely used Western fighter jets such as the F-16. It is also the fastest manned fighter jet in operation in the world, 20 years before any Western fighter or interceptor with an electronically scanned array radar. The MiG’s flight performance and large number of available airframes made it an excellent choice as a light attack fighter under the MiG-31K program, which could carry the very large Kh-47M2 air-launched ballistic missile. In fact, the MiG-31’s potential to carry particularly large munitions was recognized as far back as the 1980s, which, combined with its extremely high flight ceiling, made it the perfect candidate for development as an ASAT aircraft under the MiG-31D program By. The Foxhound is also expected to receive new air-to-surface missiles to complement the Kinzhal in the future, including an air-launched variant of the Zicron hypersonic cruise missile – the original missile the Russian Navy began fielding in 2019.
Despite its advanced capabilities, the Kh-47M2 ballistic missile was not developed as an entirely new design, but rather represents an air-launched derivative of the 9M723 ballistic missile from Russia’s Iskander-M system, which first entered service in 2006. As an air-launched missile, the Kinzhal benefits from a longer range, but many aspects of its flight performance remain similar to the original missile.The capabilities of the Iskander missile are perhaps best summed up by analysts at the Swedish daily, whoEvaluate: “The missile’s trajectory is not exactly ballistic; (it) can maneuver, but if it’s already on the ground, it can’t go up … Iskander can reach very high speeds when the missile is directed downwards, every 2-3 km per second (Mach 5.8 to 8.7). To be able to shoot down missiles at such speeds requires very advanced anti-aircraft missiles. Also, the missiles have to be very close to the target.”
Providing this strike capability to a fighter makes the MiG-31K unique in its effectiveness as an attack aircraft, especially given that the Kinzhal retains the ability to target warships and surface targets. These capabilities, first pioneered by the Soviet Union’s OTR-23 Oka ballistic missile system in the 1980s, make the MiG-31K the ideal aircraft to take out Patriot air defenses in the Ukrainian capital – fulfilling the promise of several senior Russian officials that the system would be Neutralized almost immediately. While many other missiles in Russia’s arsenal, such as subsonic-caliber cruise missiles, could be vulnerable to Patriot interception, the capabilities of the MiG-31K and Kinzhal allow them to effectively “kick the door open” to ensure that other types of missiles The missile has a higher success rate. This gives Russia more freedom to further damage critical infrastructure in Kiev, as it has done in other Ukrainian cities, placing a greater burden on Ukraine’s Western backers and increasing the likelihood that major cities will Uninhabitable risk, needs to be abandoned. As Ukraine’s other air defense assets were severely depleted, the Patriot system was also compromised, allowing the Russian Air Force to play an increasing role in the war effort.