A video posted to Telegram shows a Russian Air Force MiG-31 “Foxhound” trailing fire before crashing in an undated video.
Posted to the Russian Fighter-Bomber channel (@fighterbomber), the undated video reportedly occurred before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. It appears the MiG-31’s wingman filmed the entire crash sequence.
The MiG-31 can be seen trailing fire with its landing gear extended before its two-man crew ejects. Seconds later, the stricken interceptor takes its final dive into a hill below and a billowing big fireball.
The crash appears very similar to the MiG-31 seen falling out of the sky in flames over Russia’s Murmansk region in late April. This does not seem to be the same incident, as videos from this spring do not show a second plane filming the crash and the ground is fully snow covered during that incident. Still, both appear to crash after onboard engine fires that look very similar.
This is one of several MiG-31 crashes in both Russian and Kazakh service in recent years, the Foxhound having entered Soviet service in 1981 as the evolution of the MiG-25 “Foxbat” for service in the Soviet Voyska PVO air defense forces.
Equipped with long-range radar-guided missiles, some of the MiG-31 fleet has been modified to carry Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles and have seen extensive use in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
Contact the author: stetson.payne@thewarzone.com
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