Russia to Receive 4 Upgraded MiG-31BM Fighter Aircraft by Year End

The Russian Air Force will receive four upgraded MiG-31BM high-altitude fighter interceptors by the end of the year.

“Party of four modernized MiG-31BM fighter interceptors will be delivered to the Russian defense forces for armament by the end of the year,” Russian Ministry of Defense posted on its twitter handle Wednesday.

The multirole version of MiG-31BM is being upgraded with avionics, new multimode radar, hands-on-throttle-and stick (HOTAS) controls, multi-functional displays and improving capability to carry R-77 missile and other Russian air-to-ground missiles such as Kh-31 anti-radiation missile (ARM) and digital data links. Russia began upgrading its MiG-31 fleet to MiG-31BM in 2010.