The MiG-31 is a long-range interceptor designed to cruise over Soviet airspace and knock down enemy aircraft and cruise missiles. Dubbed "Foxhound" by NATO officials, it is the first Soviet plane to have a radar enabling it to shoot down aircraft outside the pilot's visual range.

Soviet MiG Expert Not Impressed by F-117A

PARIS – To one of the Soviet Union’s top warplane designers, America’s F-117A stealth fighter-bomber is no big deal.He doesn’t think the aircraft’s accomplishments in the Persian Gulf War were all that impressive, and he’s confident that one of his own fighters could detect the F-117A and shoot it down.