As it became known back on September 21, 2018, one of the episodes of tactical flight exercises that took place in Transbaikalia was the interception of a rather complex ballistic air target of the RM-75V "Armavir" type of high-altitude type ("B") by the forces of the long-range interceptor MiG-31BM link, using long-range guided missiles of the "air-to-air" class R-33S / 37. This became known from the resource tvzvezda.ru with reference to an informed source in the defense department. The crews of the Foxhounds coped with the task of detecting, taking for escort "on the pass", and then "capturing" the object perfectly in just 7 seconds, despite the fact that the RM-75V Armavir target, in unlike the low-altitude modification RM-75MV, it is not equipped with a Luneberg lens and has a natural effective scattering surface of the order of 0.1-0.4 sq. m.
Such a high result became possible primarily due to the fact that the interception procedure was carried out from a distance of only 30 km, which ensured the minimum probability of error on the Zaslon-AM onboard PFAR-radar when targeting R-37 missiles, and also made it possible to hit the Armavir in just a few seconds, since the total speed of approach of the R-37 with the RM-75V on a head-on course reached 2.65 km / s. The task of the MiG-31BM pilots was also facilitated by the fact that the "ballistic / high-altitude" version of the "Armavir" is unable to carry out anti-aircraft maneuvers and is an excellent "prey" for the clumsy but high-speed air combat missile R-37.
Nevertheless, having detailed information about the main performance characteristics of the onboard radar "Zaslon-AM" thanks to the table "allocer_tab" created by the now "frozen" resource paralay.com ("Stealth machines"), one can easily determine that targets with an image intensifier at 0, 1 sq. m are detected by this radar at a distance of 120 km and "captured" at a distance of 95 km. From this it is easy to conclude that the MiG-31BM pilots will be able to destroy the latest American AGM-88E AARGM anti-radar missiles and even SM-3 anti-missile missiles in the endoatmospheric segment of the ascending branch of the trajectory. Also, the list of targets of the upgraded MiG-31 will include promising American short-range tactical missiles (100 km) SLAARGM ("Surface-Launched AARGM"), developed on the basis of the AGM-88E Block I and launched from mobile ground launchers. Today it is known that the work on the SLAARGM project, supervised by Jacob Krimberg from Northrop Grumman, is entering its final stage.
On a promising missile equipped with a multi-frequency active-passive radar seeker, large stakes are made in the US ILC and MTR, since with minimal maintenance costs, ease of use and mobility of combat vehicles-PU, SLAARGM should provide an attack as radio-emitting objects (radar AWACS and radars SAM guidance), and any moving surface targets (using the active millimeter channel radar guidance Ka-band). The possibility of intercepting these missiles with the help of the Russian MiG-31BM puts one of the most ambitious programs of Northrop into question. Consequently, the September news about the unique tactical and technical parameters of the MiG-31BM, announced by the Zvezda TV channel, is absolutely not any exaggeration or a jingoistic distortion of the real state of affairs.
Another thing is the more recent news of the same "Zvezda" about the participation of the MiG-29SMT multifunctional fighters in the 2018 control check at the Astrakhan Aviation Center of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation. According to data published on October 18, the crews of several multi-role fighters intercepted a group air target simulating the flight of several UAVs. But the most important thing is that a competent source told reporters that "50-centimeter drones of the imaginary enemy were independently detected by modern onboard MiG radars at a distance of more than 100 km." This is the potential! Who would have thought! Let's imagine a small drone with a length and a wingspan of about 0.5 m.
Considering that the 2, 9-meter UAV target E95M has a natural RCS of 0, 15 sq. m, then a half-meter product has a reflective surface of no more than 0.02 sq. The main component of the armament control complex of the MiG-29SMT multipurpose fighter continues to be outdated (the source calls it "modern" for some reason) the N019MP Topaz airborne radar, and this despite the fact that the fighter has a multiplex information exchange channel (MKIO) MIL-STD-1553B … "Topaz" has low noise immunity and is able to detect a target with an RCS of 5 sq. m at a distance of 90 km, which means that a UAV with an RCS of 0.02-0.05 sq. m can be detected at a distance of 20-35 km. There can be no question of any "more than 100 km".
Obviously, in this case, the snag again lies in the placement of Luneberg lenses on the target drones, which increased their reflective surface to the required 7-7.5 square meters. m, which are fixed by "Topaz" at a distance of 110-115 km (lenses with this image intensifier are also installed on the E95M target). The conclusion here is simple: sources traditionally continue to overestimate the parameters of outdated types of onboard radars, giving wishful thinking, while the future of the newest radars with active phased array "Zhuk-AE / MAE", capable of detecting targets with image intensifier tubes 0.02 sq. m at a distance of 50-60 km, to this day it hangs in the air. Against this unhealthy background, observed in our country, in the United States, serial F-16Cs are already actively receiving new AN / APG-83 SABR stations, and this is another alarming sign.
