FIREFOX MIG 31 T-Shirt

The fundamental purpose behind the MiG-31 program was to develop an aircraft capable of intercepting anything the West currently had, due to overflights of Russia with spyplanes. Thus, the Mach 5 Lockheed D-21 drone launched from a "mother-ship" SR-71 was the only real concern Russia had in 1982, a very real one nonetheless. The Americans already had several successful launches and recoveries of the unmanned aircraft, and with its penetration speed of Mach 5 at an altitude of well over 100,000 feet, Mikoyan-Gurevich needed to make this their primary target. Much of what they had learned from the MiG-25 Foxbat programme was applied to create one of the most advanced aircraft to ever take to the skies. The Firefox was at the forefront of aviation technology and the United States recognized this.