Chapter 159 R-33 Launch

According to declassified documents, the combination of the MiG-31 interceptor and the powerful R-33 missile was not put into service until the early 1980s. However, in fact, the Soviet Air Defense Force Equipment Department, which has always had a special liking for interceptors, had already begun the development of this interception weapon.

To be exact, on May 24, 1968, Mikoyan decided to develop a modern version of the MiG-25 fighter: E-155Е-155МП, which was given the number MiG-31 when it was finally finalized. At that time, the flight test of the MiG-25 had not yet been completed, and the preliminary research of the next generation had begun.

Due to the backwardness of the Soviet Union in electronic technology, the MiG-31 would not have bright eyes if it relied on conventional methods, so it had to find another way! Therefore, the ground-based phased array radar was moved to the sky, meeting the needs of the interceptor, with a long detection range, more targets that can be intercepted, and multi-target attack capabilities.

It seems very advanced, but there is still a gap between it and AWG-9. For example, the power consumption and weight are several times that of AWG-9, and only the MiG-31 can carry it.

At the same time, in order to cooperate with the new radar, the MiG-31 also needs a missile with a maximum range of more than 120 kilometers. The competition was between the K-33 of A. Liapin, the chief designer of the "Triangle Flag", and the K-50 of M. Bisnovat, the chief designer. In the end, the design of the "Triangle Flag" was adopted. After improvement, this missile has excellent aerodynamic performance. At the same time, in order to reduce the aerodynamic resistance and temperature mounted under the fuselage, the design of the missile semi-recessed into the fuselage is adopted. Four missiles are arranged in pairs along the fuselage. Due to the semi-recessed buried arrangement, a missile ejection mechanism is also used.

This type of missile has been under development since the late 1960s. After entering the 1970s, the missile's flight test work had already begun. It was first tested on the MiG-25. With the progress of the development of the MiG-31, it began to be mounted on the MiG-31. In March 1976, the first test target aircraft, the MiG-17, was successfully shot down!

The R-33 missile has begun to mature. Although it still needs further development, it has now reached actual combat status!

The MiG-31 was carrying four R-33s originally for emergency use, but now, the sudden discovery gave the MiG-31 an opportunity.

The last pride of the Americans, the Phoenix missile on the Tomcat fighter, has the ability to snipe the MiG-25 at a long distance! And now, the Soviet Union has caught up in this regard and has similar missiles!

Turn on the afterburner, and the MiG-31 interceptor begins to accelerate! Relying on its powerful engine, the MiG-31 quickly exceeds the speed of sound from its cruising speed of 0.85 Mach, and at the same time begins to climb higher.

Fedotov in the rear cabin was also quickly operating his own fire control system, locking four targets at the same time and launching attacks. This was possible in theory, but in practice, this was the first time!

Unlike the AWG-9, that kind of flat slot radar antenna has to be aimed in order to lock onto a target. If it wants to lock onto different targets at the same time, it has to constantly refresh the data. The AWG-9 radar relies on rapid scanning and refreshing of target data to guide its own missiles. In the terminal stage, it relies on an active seeker and does not require the carrier radar to provide a beam, thus achieving this multi-target engagement capability.

The SBE-16 radar is achieved by changing the phase of the radar beam. By controlling the front radar antenna to radiate in four directions, it can aim at four targets and attack at the same time! Moreover, the radar can continuously illuminate and can also use semi-active radar-guided missiles.

However, with the Soviet Union's backward electronic technology, there were many manual operation steps, which was a complete test for the personnel in the rear cabin!

"Ready." Fedotov in the rear cabin was not only a test pilot, but also a skilled electronic engineer. Now, he quickly completed the tasks of assigning targets and locking. On the green radar screen, four circles had covered the target!

At this time, the MiG-31 had climbed to an altitude of 25,000 meters, 90 kilometers away from the target, and the carrier aircraft had accelerated to Mach 2.

"Fire!" Fedotov shouted and pressed the launch button hard.

Under the belly of the aircraft, the huge R-33 missile was easily ejected from the aircraft by the ejection mechanism. One second later, a strong tongue of fire suddenly spurted out from the tail of the missile, and the ignition was successful!

One after another, four huge R-33 missiles all ignited successfully! The first-stage rocket engine ignited, pushing the missile to accelerate to Mach 3.5 and sprinting towards the target!

Although it is generally similar to the AIM-54, the actual shooting process is different. For example, in order to achieve a high range, the AIM-54 missile will quickly climb to an altitude of 24,000 meters after takeoff. The modified version even climbs to an altitude of 30,000 meters to reduce resistance and achieve a high range. The R33 missile does not need to climb upwards, because the carrier aircraft has already given the missile this altitude at the time of initial launch!

The first few seconds of flight were completed automatically by the program, and then the missile entered the mid-course radio command guidance phase.

"Damn, the target launched missiles at us!" At this moment, the pilots of the four Tomcat fighters that were attacking from the opposite side heard the report from the radar operator in the rear cabin and were immediately shocked.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was 90 kilometers, and as far as I can remember, the effective range of the Soviet Union's medium-range air-to-air missiles in actual combat launches did not exceed 30 kilometers.

Judging from the performance of the target, it must be the MiG-25. Only this type of fighter can climb to an altitude of more than 20,000 meters and accelerate to more than Mach 2. However, there is no intelligence that the MiG-25 has such a long-range missile! Their radar may not be able to intercept the target at this distance!

Just now, under the command of the early warning aircraft, they launched a surprise attack from this direction, hoping to destroy the Soviet MiG-25 and eliminate the threat of this fighter.

Were the Soviets bluffing? Just setting off a few missiles as a pyrotechnic display? Just to get their own troops to flee? Or did the Soviets develop a new type of aircraft, or what we might call the Super MiG-25?

No one answered their questions. In an air battle, a few seconds of hesitation could determine their life or death. Now, wars were going on everywhere. If they could not break through the Soviet air defense circle, they would not be able to stop the Soviet surface fleet from transporting supplies to Kushiro Island, and they would not be able to resolve the conflict in Hokkaido that had already broken out!

"Launch the Phoenix!" After hesitating for a moment, the leader of the formation issued the combat mission.