Units of the RF Ministry of Defense and border troops began to return to the Arctic, the once abandoned airfields are now being restored, the civil and military infrastructure has begun to develop seriously, a radar field with full coverage of the territory, which is so necessary for solving air defense tasks, is being recreated. Traditionally, we use heavy long-range interceptors to strengthen the air defense of the Arctic region, which, generally speaking, is problematic. This is the MiG-31, and now the MiG-31BM has also risen into the air - a deep modernization of the "parent".
The MiG-31 modernization program began in 2011 and should be completed by 2020, when all MiG-31 aircraft will become MiG-31BM. It is assumed that the MiG-31BM will operate in the Arctic air defense system until the end of the 2020s, after which it will be replaced by a new PAK DP aircraft, the decision to create which was made in 2014 - this follows from the statement of the Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Viktor Bondarev.
Currently, the development of the concept of the PAK DP is underway in order to complete the R&D stage in 2017-2019, and from 2025-2026 to begin the supply of aircraft to the troops. Until the end of the 2020s, the PAK DP will still fly together with the MiG-31BM, but after that there will be a complete renewal of the fleet at the PAK DP.
It was gratifying to hear the statement of the head of the RSK MiG corporation S. Korotkov at Aero India in 2015 that RSK MiG had already begun working on the PAK DP program. And it is gratifying because RSK MiG is a recognized authority in creating the world's best interceptors, to the level of which the most modern foreign aircraft even now do not reach. But the serial MiG-31 made its first flight 40 years ago - on August 16, 1975.
RSK MiG has groundwork, the necessary scientific and technical groundwork and a reliable assistant - the Sokol aircraft plant in Nizhny Novgorod, which produced the MiG-31. That is, everything to make airplanes of new projects.
The creation of PAK DP is so urgent that a number of companies have already expressed a desire to take part in the project. For example, in the summer of 2015, the general director of the N. I. V. V. Tikhomirov (developer of the Zaslon radar for the MiG-31) Y. Bely said that NIIP began work on defining the appearance of the radio-electronic complex (REC) for the PAK DP and studies on organizing the interaction of the REC with all other on-board systems.
Looking north
The development of long-range intercept aircraft systems fits into the Russian program to strengthen the military presence and strengthen the defense in the Arctic sector.
Great predecessors
Today they talk a lot about the need for network management and recommend using systems like C41 for this, they talk about the need for situational support at 100%, about supervisory control of "network soldiers", and also about group coordinated actions.
But it turns out that we had all of this already in the 1970s and at the same time worked well. We are talking about the Zaslon air defense system, into which the long-range interceptor MiG-31 was built.
Zaslon was originally a real digital networked control system for interceptors, which operated in groups of four aircraft - the commander and three wingmen. The group was capable of controlling airspace with a front length of 800-1000 km and could hit targets with air-to-air missiles at a distance of 120 km.
Even then, the MiG-31 demonstrated effective group actions, had a system for maintaining the formation and determining mutual coordinates (OVK), possessed well-protected data transmission equipment (APD), and used powerful information support from the ground and A50-type AWACS aircraft. Then there were no GPS and GLONASS navigation systems, but there were good radio systems for short and long-range navigation RSBN / RSDN. All this provided situational awareness, which allowed the group commander, to whom all current information was received, to effectively solve the tasks of targeting, selecting priority targets and their defeat when coordinating the group's actions.
On the MiG-31, as an onboard information system, there was the Zaslon radar - the world's first radar with a phased antenna array (PAR) installed on a jet fighter. She could simultaneously detect ten targets and provide rocket fire at four of the most important. The radar detection range was 120-130 km. The work on targets in the rear hemisphere was assisted by the 8TP heat direction finder, which was put forward into the stream, with a range of 40-56 km, depending on weather conditions.
With the appearance of the upgraded Zaslon-M radar on the MiG-31, the capabilities of the interceptors increased: target detection was already provided at ranges twice as long as the original radar provided, the number of simultaneously detected and tracked targets and the number of targets simultaneously hit increased, the engagement range doubled.
The deep modernization of the MiG-31, as a result of which it becomes the MiG-31 BM, is a new onboard avionics, a new BCVS, PO, MKIO (multiplex information exchange channel), a "glass" cockpit.
A further increase in the capabilities of the MiG-31BM will be associated with the Zaslon-AM radar with an even more increased detection range (320 km) and destruction range (290 km) for ten air targets simultaneously.
So, the Zaslon system, together with the MiG-31 and MiG-31BM, has all the elements of network control and ensuring coordinated group actions, and this can be considered as a significant groundwork in the work on the PAK DP program, but already with the implementation on a new element base and on new technologies. Well, not a bad legacy of the great predecessors.
It's time for hypersound
As soon as the official announcement of the launch of the PAK DP project appeared, the media began to talk about how to make it and what it could be. At least two points require comment. The first is the name "MiG-41" for a promising interceptor; the second is the proposal to create a PAK DP based on the MiG-31, for example, based on its corps. With the MiG-41, the media were clearly in a hurry. This can only be called a serial aircraft, which has already begun to enter the troops. When an aircraft is under development at the design bureau, it goes under the brand name, and, for example, at the OKB im. A. I. Mikoyan, the future MiG-31 went as the E-155MP, and the PAK FA was tested as the T-50.
As for the MiG-31, it should be recalled that the design of this aircraft was chosen and optimized specifically for the conditions of supersonic flight at a speed of 3000 km / h (Mach 2, 8). Its casing, which is 55% steel, 33% highly resistant aluminum alloy and 13% titanium, withstands heat loads from kinetic heating precisely at these operating speeds.
But the PAK DP, which, for example, will have to deal with hypersonic strike UAVs such as the US-developed SR-72, is seen only as hypersonic. Hero of Russia test pilot Anatoly Kvochur suggests that the PAK DP should fly at speeds not lower than 4−4, 3 m (4500 km / h). However, under such conditions, kinetic heating begins to grow sharply. The metal body of the MiG-31 is simply not designed for such loads. This means that there must be other solutions, because the use of the MiG-31 as a prototype of the PAK DP is excluded. It will be possible to find out how the plane for the Arctic interception actually looks like, only after waiting for the results of the study of the project. PAK DP will require solving the problems of hypersonic aerodynamics, thermal loads, the choice of structural materials, layout, engine operating modes, solving the problem of placing weapons on an aircraft and its separation at hypersonic speeds, as well as many other problems that will inevitably arise during the development of an aircraft.
"Ice" war
International competition for resources in the Arctic will undoubtedly entail the use of the very latest technological advances. Our colleagues at Popular Mechanics have presented a small overview of the tools that will most likely be used in the struggle for high latitudes. It was prepared with the assistance of Sim Teck, a military analyst with the international intelligence and consulting company Stratfor.
1. Satellites
Ground-based transmitters in the Arctic are invisible to military communications satellites in geostationary orbits near the equator due to the fact that their signal is blocked by the rounded surface of the Earth. For clarity, imagine a fly circling around the apple somewhere in the middle - it will not be able to see the stalk if it wants to. The US Navy plans to create a geostationary satellite constellation MUOS (Mobile User Objective System), capable of giving a powerful signal, breaking through to the most inaccessible areas on earth - even to the pole (Rossvyaz intends to solve a similar problem using communication satellites in highly elliptical orbits - Ed..).
2. Unmanned aircraft
At low temperatures, there is a possibility of icing of the wings of unmanned aerial vehicles, which will increase their weight and can lead to loss of control - due to mechanical blocking of control systems. To ensure the operation of the UAV at temperatures down to -35 ° C and strong winds, Canada and Russia have launched special projects to test "frost-resistant" technologies. The year before last, during the August exercise, Canada tested a model of its drone-helicopter. And Russia has recently begun testing the Orlan-10 multifunctional unmanned complex for work in the Arctic.
3. New spy ship
Since the mid-1990s, Norway has been using its warship Marjata to monitor the Russian Northern Fleet. In 2016, by order of the Norwegian Intelligence Service, a new ship worth $ 250 million is to be launched - the second version of the Marjata (it was decided to keep the name). It will be the size of a large passenger ferry - 125 meters in length. Detection range and autonomous navigation will increase, so that the Norwegians can better monitor what is happening in their Arctic "backyard".
4. Underwater robots
In May, the NATO research vessel Alliance sailed off the coast of Norway to test special vehicles designed to track submarines in the Arctic. Engineers tested wave-powered speedboats and a new "eavesdropping" robot, made in the shape of a torpedo and using on-board sonars to record signals. The designers claim that the following models of this device will be able to throw whole disposable "garlands" of sonars into the sea, which will form invisible networks for observing depths.
5. Submarines with nuclear warheads
The Arctic is of strategic importance for the United States and Russia, because in the event of a nuclear conflict between the two powers, it is most convenient to launch missiles with nuclear warheads from here. “The shortest trajectory between Russia and NATO countries lies precisely in the Arctic,” comments Sim Tek. That is why the Pentagon is concerned about the movement of Russian Borey-class submarines (projects 955, 955A - Ed.), Which are distinguished by a low level of noise generated during movement due to the use of a water jet. The boats are also equipped with a long-range sonar system, which allows detecting targets and hazards at a record distance from SSBNs.
