Russia may have lost half of its MiG-31Ks but it can make more
Photo: The Russian army could lose half of its MiG-31Ks (wikipedia.org)
As a result of the Ukrainian strike on the Savasleyka airfield, the Russian army could have lost half of its MiG-31Ks, which are capable of carrying the Kinzhal missile. But Russia is capable of replenishing the fleet of these missile carriers, according to Bohdan Dolintse, an aviation expert and head of the Institute of Management and Strategies.
According to Dolintse, before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, there was information that Russia had 12 MiG-31K aircraft in service. Earlier, the destruction of one of them was confirmed, and another was destroyed during the strike on Savasleyka.
“So now there are 10 of them. At least 5 more were damaged. How badly they were damaged remains a question. If they were damaged so badly that they cannot be repaired, then we can say that 50% of the media were destroyed. If they can be quickly restored, then we will only be talking about a temporary reduction in these media,” the expert says.
At the same time, Dolintse reminds that the MiG-31K was created based on the MiG-31 version B or BS. According to him, there are still more than 100 such aircraft in the Russian army's inventory.
“We have to understand that even the destruction of all the MiG-31Ks available today does not mean that Russia will no longer have these aircraft. Of course, they will need some time, which may take from 6 months to a year, but they will be able to get new carriers,” he adds.
Russia's MiG-31K threat to Ukraine
The MiG-31K is a two-seat supersonic, all-weather, long-range fighter interceptor capable of carrying the Kh-47M Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
This missile can reach any point on the territory of Ukraine in a matter of minutes, and can only be intercepted by Patriot and Samp-T air defense systems. Therefore, the use of these missiles by the Russians poses a serious threat to Ukrainians.
Strike on Russian Savasleyka airfield
Recently, it became known that the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine attacked the Russian airfield Savasleyka with drones.
As a result of the attack on August 16, a MiG-31K/I aircraft, two Il-76 aircraft, and about five aircraft, probably MiG-31K/I, were destroyed.
