The Ekonomichna Pravda publisher, citing Ukrainian intelligence report, noted that in 2023 russia spent at least $4 billion on military electronics, including for its combat aircraft needs. At the same time, russians used more than 2,000 components produced by 200 companies from 22 countries to manufacture their combat aircraft such as Su-27SM3, Su-30SM, Su-34, Su-35S, Su-57 and even MiG-31I.
The MiG-31I, where "I" stands for "Ishim," is positioned by russians as the latest version of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile carrier. The fact that this type of aircraft is mentioned in Ukraine`s intelligence report means that the MiG-31I exists not only in the publications of russian propagandists, but also as a very real weapon.
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For the first time russians stated of MiG-31I Ishim in the fall of 2022. Even then, they positioned this development as the newest version of the Kinzhal missile carrier, better than the basic MiG-31K.
The second time the Kremlin publicly stated about MiG-31I was in September 2023, when its "Wunderwaffe" was demonstrated in Vladivostok to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. However, this is the only public mention of Ishim as the newest carrier of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile in russian sources.
russians have not made reliable photos of the MiG-31I aircraft publicly available. There is only an indication that this aircraft differs from the MiG-31K in only one detail. It is an on-board automated system that supposedly allows the Kinzhal carrier aircraft to be brought to the required point at the required speed without pilot intervention. Because on the Mi G-31K, it has to be done manually.
It is unknown how many newes MiG-31Is as carriers of Kinzhal missile russia can have now. But situation is generally illustrative from two sides.
The first is that despite all efforts, it has not yet been possible to block the supply of Western electronics to russia for the manufacture of weapons. The second perspective is that russians produce a rather unpretentious "Wunderwaffe" that can function with substandard electronics that can be delivered through smuggling channels.
Earlier Defense Express reported that russia had changed tactics of strikes on Ukraine, reducing use of Shahed drones.
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