MiG-31 Foxhound

MiG-31 Foxhound
General Info
Role	Interceptor
Hangar level	12
Difficulty	★★★★☆
Durability	▰▰▰▱▱▱
Speed	▰▰▰▰▰▱
Agility	▰▱▱▱▱▱
Traits	cruising altitude
Base Stats
Hitpoints	140
Top speed	1501 km/h
Acceleration	45 m/s²
Turn rate	28 °/s
Ideal turning speed	756 km/h
Afterburner fuel	17 s

A quintessential heavy Interceptor of the 1980s, with a hard-hitting combo of long and medium range missiles.

— In-game description

The MiG-31 Foxhound is a supersonic interceptor, first introduced into service in May 1981. It is equipped with four long range, radar-guided, fire-and-forget missiles, two medium range, heat-seeking missiles, and a strong but short range internal assault cannon. It has strong afterburners which provide power to climb and one of the fastest top speeds in the skies. It large size and poor maneuverability are not ideal for dog fighting.

Loadout

The MiG-31 Foxhound is equipped with long range ×4 radar missile, ×2 heat-seeking missile, and a powerful, but short range internal assault cannon that is quick to overheat. The MiG-31 Foxhound is also equipped with ×5 flares.

Type	Max Damage (DPS)	Ideal Range (km)	Reticle Range (km)	Spin-up Time (s)	Spread	Overheat Time (s)	Ammo	Armor Piercing
Assault cannon	366	0.4	0.9	1.3	low	2.7	∞	none

Guidance	Range Type	Range (km)	Quantity	Damage	Speed (km/h)	Turn Rate (°/s)	Lock Angle (°)	Lock Time (s)
Heat-seeking missile	Medium range	6.0	2	120	4680	15	5	1.5
Radar missile	Long range	12.0	4	120	6120	15	5	1.8

Special Ability

The MiG-31 Foxhound has a special ability called Rapid Refuel. When equipped and triggered, it decreases the time the afterburner needs to recharge its fuel. This combined with special trait of reserve fuel allows for impressive afterburner burn time.

Veteran tips

The MiG-31 Foxhound is limited in its battle uses. The afterburners are powerful and have a long burn time. It has a very high top speed, however the speed performance is limited to its special higher cruising altitude, where its engines becomes more efficient and provide more speed with less fuel consumption. At low air speeds, the MiG-31 Foxhound has a tendency to stall. It is suggested to employ a look-down/shoot-down firing tactic with its long range, radar guided missiles, and mid range, heat-seeking missiles. Ideally a pilot would pitch the aircraft upwards, accelerate to its special higher cruising altitude, level the airframe, then employ a look-down/shoot-down firing tactic. All equipped missiles produce high damage, but they have some trade-offs. The long range, radar guided missiles have a far range, and very fast cruising speed. This comes at the cost of slow lock times, and a small shooting reticle angle. The medium range, heat-seeking missiles, also produce high damage with some trade-offs. They have the longest range in skies for a heat-seeking missile, which makes them deadly against stealth aircraft. This comes at the cost of slow lock times, and a small shooting reticle angle. The cannon is powerful, however it has shorter range, wider firing spread, it is slow to spin-up, and it overheats quickly. The MiG-31 Foxhound has poor maneuverability. The optimal turning speed is high. If the pilot turns or flies below the optimal turning speed, it is likely to stall. If the pilot flies above the optimal turning speed, maneuverability suffers greatly. With a weapons loadout of long range, slow lock time missiles, and a cannon that has more weaknesses than strengths, it is suggested to avoid dog fights. The MiG-31 Foxhound can be deadly in the hands of the most disciplined pilots that utilize the aircraft in a support role. Its afterburner and speed are advantageous for capturing points in Air Superiority.

Trivia

In-game, the MiG-31 Foxhound is equipped with what appears to be two Bisnovat R-40 air-to-air missiles and four Vympel R-37 R-40 air-to-air missiles. In real life, the MiG-31 Foxhound is still operated by Russia. Early variants were equipped with a 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-23M rotary cannon. Later models, the cannon was removed, as the mission envelope no longer required the use of a cannon. The radar and weapons package carried by the the MiG-31 Foxhound was intended to; 1.) intercept cruise missiles and their launch aircraft at long range, 2.) detect and destroy low flying cruise missiles, UAVs and helicopters, 3.) provide a long range escort for strategic bombers, and 4.) maintain strategic air defense were ground-based air defense systems are not present.

Paints

The MiG-31 Foxhound has 4 different paints available, including the default.

Name	Unlock requirement	Rarity	Image
Factory Gray	Default	Basic
865th Guardian Fighter Squadron	29 gold	Common
Boneyard	65 gold	Uncommon
Harpoon	99 gold	Rare