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The first flight of the MiG-31 prototype was in September 1975, and the new fighter broke a number of time-to-altitude records.  Production began in 1979.  [[NATO]] had heard of the Foxhound from a defecting Russian pilot, but the West got its first good look in 1985, when Foxhounds based on the Kola Peninsula were met by [[Norway|Norwegian]] fighters when they came close to that country’s air space.  The MiG-31 looked like a two-seat MiG-25 with larger engines and an internal gun.

The first flight of the MiG-31 prototype was in September 1975, and the new fighter broke a number of time-to-altitude records.  Production began in 1979.  [[NATO]] had heard of the Foxhound from a defecting Russian pilot, but the West got its first good look in 1985, when Foxhounds based on the Kola Peninsula were met by [[Norway|Norwegian]] fighters when they came close to that country's air space.  The MiG-31 looked like a two-seat MiG-25 with larger engines and an internal gun.

Internally, however, the MiG-31 is a very different beast.  While the MiG-25 had a primitive, if powerful, [[radar]], the MiG-31’s radar system<ref>Known in NATO aviation circles as “Flash Dance”</ref> is a phased array capable of tracking ten targets simultaneously at a range of 75 miles.  It is also the first Russian production plane with a true “look down/shoot down” capability, to detect low-flying planes or cruise missiles.  The crew of two means that the workload can be divided, allowing the back-seater to concentrate on radar and the pilot to concentrate on flying.  The composition of the airframe is different as well, with less steel and more [[aluminum]] and [[titanium]] than its predecessor.  In addition, the turbojets of the MiG-25 were replaced in the MiG-31 by more fuel-efficient turbofans.  This means that the Foxhound is slower than the Foxbat (although, at Mach 2.3, still faster than most American and European fighters), but has better endurance.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft'', ed. by Paul Eden, Aerospace Publishing, 2004</ref>

Internally, however, the MiG-31 is a very different beast.  While the MiG-25 had a primitive, if powerful, [[radar]], the MiG-31's radar system<ref>Known in NATO aviation circles as “Flash Dance”</ref> is a phased array capable of tracking ten targets simultaneously at a range of 75 miles.  It is also the first Russian production plane with a true “look down/shoot down” capability, to detect low-flying planes or cruise missiles.  The crew of two means that the workload can be divided, allowing the back-seater to concentrate on radar and the pilot to concentrate on flying.  The composition of the airframe is different as well, with less steel and more [[aluminum]] and [[titanium]] than its predecessor.  In addition, the turbojets of the MiG-25 were replaced in the MiG-31 by more fuel-efficient turbofans.  This means that the Foxhound is slower than the Foxbat (although, at Mach 2.3, still faster than most American and European fighters), but has better endurance.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft'', ed. by Paul Eden, Aerospace Publishing, 2004</ref>