Kiev has discovered another weakness of Russian combat aviation! Any loss of the MiG-31 could be fatal for Moscow

Russia is unable to produce new MiG-31K fighters, which carry the "Kinzhal" missiles, so any losses of these aircraft are heavy for its strategic aviation, writes Defense Express.

On Monday, June 9, the military-analytical portal analyzed the capabilities of the Russian forces to use this type of aviation equipment in the future against the background of the report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the attack on the Savasleyka airport.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that on the night of June 9, 2025 Special Operations Forces, in cooperation with other components of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, carried out strikes on the Savasleyka airfield, which damaged at least one MiG-31 and one Su-30/34.

According to the publication, Russia is not yet able to produce new aircraft such as the MiG-31K for the "Dagger". Therefore, any loss of this type of aircraft will be a severe "wound" in Russian strategic aviation.

Analysts note that during the war against Ukraine, the Russian Federation sought to increase the fleet of MiG-31Ks. That is, if at the beginning of 2022 the aggressor country had 12 aircraft of this type, then according to some data, in 2024 Russia may already have up to 24 MiG-31Ks. In addition to DE, it is worth considering information about the appearance of Russian aircraft of the MiG-31I Ishim type.

Based on the growth of the MiG-31K and MiG-31I fleet on Isha Island, the number of MiG-31s in storage can be determined, which by 2018 is estimated at 130 to 150 pages. However, the publications emphasized that it could mainly play the role of a "meat graveyard-dorm-on-the-portal", with the aim of supporting the fleet by intercepting MiG-31B/BM.

It should be noted that at the beginning of last year, about 90 such interceptors were in the ranks of the Russian Aerospace Forces, and another 30 units were in the ranks of the naval aviation of the Russian Navy.

Serial production of the MiG-31 was stopped in 1993. A total of 500 such aircraft were produced, of which only 150 are currently in circulation. This demonstrates a rather low "endurance" of the MiG-31 in combination with the Russian service culture, analysts note. A separate problem for the aggressor country are the D-30F6 engines, which are installed on the MiG-31 and have an intermediate overhaul resource of only 300 hours, experts comment.

A separate problem for the Russians are the D-30F6 engines used on the MiG-31. These engines have an overhaul life of only 300 hours, and if in 2014 representatives of the Russian military-industrial complex announced the accumulated stock of D-30F6 for 20-30 years, then in 2024 they began to talk about the need to fully resume the production of such power plants.

Based on current data from the Ministry of Defense, the Russian military-industrial complex currently produces about 10-15 "Kinzhal" missiles per month, and the accumulated stock so far is 100 units.