Russia testing MiG-31 fighter with fly-by-wire control system.

Russia is carrying out state trials of the upgraded MiG-31 fighter-interceptor with a fly-by-wire control system, managers of the Sokol aviation enterprise reported to Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko during his visit to the production facility on November 25.

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As part of his working trip to Nizhny Novgorod in the Volga area, the deputy defense minister visited the Sokol aviation enterprise where he inspected the enterprise’s production capacities and checked the pace of work on repairing and upgrading MiG-31 fighters, and also held a meeting on fulfilling the defense procurement plan.

As the Sokol aviation enterprise management informed, "there is an option of upgrading this aircraft where we switch from the mechanical to the fly-by-wire control system, which yields a host of computers mounted on the plane."

Today the main task of the Sokol aviation enterprise is to carry out major repairs of the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor with its heavy upgrade to the MiG-31BM level and this work has been going on since 2007.

In the course of the fighter’s upgrade, its onboard equipment will be completely replaced. The combat plane will be also checked for faults to replace corrosion sections that may account for 15-50%. All the wiring and rubber pieces will be completely replaced along with the fighter’s canopy.

MiG-31 fighter’s efficiency to grow threefold after upgrade

The combat efficiency of MiG-31 fighter-interceptors will rise about threefold after their major repairs and upgrade, the Sokol aviation enterprise management reported to the deputy defense minister.

The fighters’ major repairs will provide for their reliable and fault-free operation, the Sokol managers stressed.

"Meanwhile, the upgrade, in which the onboard radio-electronic equipment is fully replaced with advanced technology envisages using the latest air-launched weapons, which will boost the plane’s combat efficiency by about three times," the Sokol management said.

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