MiG-31BM mod by szcz

[dimasovetov]

Buddy! I’m thrilled that someone finally started working on the MiG-31 with its REAL COCKPIT! Really hope you’ll keep improving the project — the current version of the cockpit looks way too basic. And another question: what’s up with the flight model? Why does the plane wobble so violently, like it’s a supermaneuverable Su-27? Feels like the MiG-31 should be way harder to handle… Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d love to see you MANAGE TO FIND SPECIALISTS who’ve worked on this fighter and perfect the model! (sorry if you’re already an expert on this plane in real life :D)

[szcz13]

1 час назад, dimasovetov сказал:

Buddy! I’m thrilled that someone finally started working on the MiG-31 with its REAL COCKPIT! Really hope you’ll keep improving the project — the current version of the cockpit looks way too basic. And another question: what’s up with the flight model? Why does the plane wobble so violently, like it’s a supermaneuverable Su-27? Feels like the MiG-31 should be way harder to handle… Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d love to see you MANAGE TO FIND SPECIALISTS who’ve worked on this fighter and perfect the model! (sorry if you’re already an expert on this plane in real life )

Hey man, appreciate the enthusiasm — seriously. But just to clarify: I’m a university student doing this solo in my limited spare time. Building a third-party level cockpit (especially for something like the MiG-31) takes a ton of resources — 3D modeling, coding, research, testing — it’s basically a full-time job for a team of professionals. I don’t have access to actual MiG-31 specialists or military-grade documentation, nor the budget/time to hunt that stuff down. I’m doing my best with what I’ve got.

The flight model’s still WIP and based on whatever open data I can gather, so yeah, it’s gonna have rough edges. Constructive feedback’s always welcome, but just keep in mind this isn’t a commercial-grade project — it’s a personal one, for free, made on evenings and weekends between classes and exams.

Disable FF settings and adjust axis curves and see how it works. SFM has it's limitations and some things aren't fixable without EFM.

There's no way we are going to get people who worked on MiG-31 to work on a mod. Russia has much stricter laws on classified data and with war going on it's even less possible than ever.

Edited April 11 by szcz13

[BlackFalco]

@szcz13 video with your mod here!  

 

[szcz13]

28 минут назад, BlackFalco сказал:

@szcz13 video with your mod here!  

 

Great video man, thanks!

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.2

Just dropped a new update. In it, I tried to tackle the long standing issue with pitch and stability of the plane — now it should feel much more realistic. I also changed the model for the R-37 and R-37M missiles, which should look prettier than the older one.

Adjusted the behavior of all three missiles — R-33, R-37, and R-37M — to what seems to be the most realistic I could get so far. I tried not to make it over the top, like many modded R-37Ms are, but at the same time left a good incentive to use them over other missiles.

Thanks for the replies, feedback, and support — it helps a lot with development, and I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think of the new changes.

 

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.3

- Fixed AoA gauge showing weather - now it shows correct values,

- Added mechanical distance indicator,

- Adjusted SFM parameters and missiles behavior a bit

 

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.32
Smaller update but I feel it was long needed - bitching Betty being angry about AoA all the time. Now you will hear her only if critical AoA was exceeded. Also SFM drag parameters were adjusted.
 

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.4

- added external lights animations for taxi and position lights,

- added dynamic bort numbers instead of separate liveries for small amount of borts,

- adjusted SFM parameters like minimal speed and others,

- adjusted R-37 and R-37M parameters in which reasonable to real reports range.

[MaxK]

I can't get over Mach 1.5 at 13,000m after 2.4 update. Has something changed in SFM?

Edited April 30 by MaxK

[szcz13]

4 часа назад, MaxK сказал:

I can't get over Mach 1.5 at 13,000m after 2.4 update. Has something changed in SFM?

With payload or clean?

[MaxK]

With 4 R-37M and 2 R-73 missiles. But I used to reach 2.4 Mach, but now I can't!

[szcz13]

55 минут назад, MaxK сказал:

With 4 R-37M and 2 R-73 missiles. But I used to reach 2.4 Mach, but now I can't!

It shouldn't go Mach 2.4 with that loadout, but I revised some SFM code and made it faster, because I also noticed some issues woth speed, I will drop the update soon.

[MaxK]

Without missiles, with a 50% fuel reserve in horizontal flight at an altitude of 13,000 meters, it could not exceed 1.8 Mach. 
Moreover, the maximum speed of the MiG-31, according to all data, is M=2.83!!! How can such a speed be achieved in DCS?
Anyway, szcz13, thank you for your work!

[szcz13]

3 часа назад, MaxK сказал:

Without missiles, with a 50% fuel reserve in horizontal flight at an altitude of 13,000 meters, it could not exceed 1.8 Mach. 
Moreover, the maximum speed of the MiG-31, according to all data, is M=2.83!!! How can such a speed be achieved in DCS?
Anyway, szcz13, thank you for your work!

Thanks, as I said there's a speed issue right now that I'm fixing. It will not be going 2.83M though as it's the speed of aircraft during testing and not realistic operational value. At 50% fuel, with clean loadout I was able to get to 2.2 Mach at 13km yesterday. I'll see if it needs even more speed without making it a UFO.

[Urbi]

szcz13

Would it be possible to fix the bug with the pilot's texture? You used a vertically mirrored UVW and then applied the helmet correction to it. Texture areas were overlapping, which I consider the worst modeling mistake. The only exterior texture also comes without a normals assignment. What a shame.

 

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.5

New update is up - fixed pilots texture bug, thanks @Urbi for pointing it out. Completely reworked engine SFM data - now it should be more realistic, although needs more testing, maybe adjustments will be needed in the future. Added more powerful radar - seems like DCS caps detection range at around 320km, so I can't make it find targets even further.

If there are any (realistic, not "can't hit 3000km/h in this thing") suggestions regarding flight performance you notice while flying, I'm open to hear it, it's hard to gather a lot of flight data alone, and as I said, new SFM engine code is a little bit different from the previous one but much better and more detailed. It means that there's more stuff that can be adjusted, and that needs time and data.

[MaxK]

Excellent!!! Now (version 2.5) the speed is fine, you can feel that there is acceleration.
This is a really fast and deadly interceptor - high-altitude (20 km), with a high cruising speed (>2 Mach) with weapons!

Thank you szcz13!

Edited May 2 by MaxK

[OtecGoril2]

Hi szcz, I have encountered the issue with the grayed out glass of the cockpit instruments. Have you any idea how to fix it? And will there also be an original HUD in russian?

Thanks for the amazing work on this mod.

[szcz13]

6 часов назад, OtecGoril2 сказал:

Hi szcz, I have encountered the issue with the grayed out glass of the cockpit instruments. Have you any idea how to fix it? And will there also be an original HUD in russian?

Thanks for the amazing work on this mod.

I will see what can be done with glass texture, and to use russian HUD you have to change your game language in settings, for some reason that's how ED have done it.

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.52

Probably the smallest of the updates so far, but I couldn't find the solution to the issue before and it turned out to be pretty easy. Made the glass textures clearer - they should behave much more like a real glass and not a semi-transparent wall.

[OtecGoril2]

On 5/9/2025 at 3:47 PM, szcz13 said:

UPDATE v2.52

Probably the smallest of the updates so far, but I couldn't find the solution to the issue before and it turned out to be pretty easy. Made the glass textures clearer - they should behave much more like a real glass and not a semi-transparent wall.

Thanks man, looks awesome.

[VinntoreZ]

On 4/10/2025 at 10:40 PM, BlackFalco said:

@szcz13 Sorry to bother you once again , I noticed the main cannon does not carry many rounds, is it normal? Thanks.  

this is normal, for example Su-22 had only 80 rounds in each of two cannons.
Most of soviet fighters and fighter bombers had between 100 and 300 rounds.

[szcz13]

UPDATE v2.6

Fixed a bug where Kh-31P would not track the target and explode mid-air. Added new custom Kh-31P missile, which could be used without the ELINT pod. Thanks @BlackFalco for pointing it out to me.

Edited May 16 by szcz13

[Etha2007]

Ok- first of all... fantastic mod. I've wanted a good MiG-31 mod/module for a while, and this is the first one that is of good quality. So for that- thank you.

That being said, as a bit of a MiG-31 fanatic- there's some inaccurate things.

First of all, you should not be able to put R-33s or R-37s under the wings. The only place where the MiG-31 can mount these missiles is under the belly. Now- I'm assuming you got confused by multiple sources stating that the MiG-31 can carry 6 R-37s, and assumed that these additional 2 hardpoints must've been under the wings. The truth is that the MiG-31M prototype from the 1990s had 6 hardpoints under the belly and could carry 6 R-33s/R-37s there.  As far as I know, this is NOT a feature on any other MiG-31 variant (which all have 4 underbelly pylons for 4 big missiles).

The MiG-31BM's ability to carry AG munitions is also seemingly only a feature on the MiG-31BM prototype from the 1990s (not to be confused with the proper serial production MiG-31BM from 2008 onwards). There has been not a single instance of a modern MiG-31BM carrying AG munitions apart from the Kinzhal on MiG-31K/MiG-31I. The only pictures of a "MiG-31BM" carrying Kh-31s and Kh-59s is of that 1990s prototype.

Secondly, the R-33 as you have represented it in-game is a bit wrong. See, the original R-33 variant (which is actually represented quite well in vanilla DCS) is a bit of a piece of <profanity>. It had only 60 seconds of battery life, did NOT have loft, and had terrible range (for a "long range" missile, that is). Range charts show that the R-33 had about the same amount of range as the R-27ER due to it's deficiencies. Now, this is still pretty good when going up F-15s and F/A-18s armed with AIM-7s, and the MiG-31 should still far outrange them in an early 1980s environment, but it's not the super duper ultra long range missile that it is in the mod.

Now, the R-33 you have in the mod is actually a pretty good representation of the R-33S which allegedly did fix a lot of the R-33's issues. It's not known what exactly was changed, but apparently the range increase was so great that some Soviet officials themselves didn't believe it. It can be assumed that upgrades were made to the battery life, motor and lofting profile. But again, these are assumptions. I'd recommend you rename the R-33 in the mod to the "R-33S" and add the vanilla R-33 as a weapon option as it is actually simulated quite well in terms of range (you might need to make only a few minor adjustments).

 

[szcz13]

8 часов назад, Etha2007 сказал:

Ok- first of all... fantastic mod. I've wanted a good MiG-31 mod/module for a while, and this is the first one that is of good quality. So for that- thank you.

That being said, as a bit of a MiG-31 fanatic- there's some inaccurate things.

First of all, you should not be able to put R-33s or R-37s under the wings. The only place where the MiG-31 can mount these missiles is under the belly. Now- I'm assuming you got confused by multiple sources stating that the MiG-31 can carry 6 R-37s, and assumed that these additional 2 hardpoints must've been under the wings. The truth is that the MiG-31M prototype from the 1990s had 6 hardpoints under the belly and could carry 6 R-33s/R-37s there.  As far as I know, this is NOT a feature on any other MiG-31 variant (which all have 4 underbelly pylons for 4 big missiles).

The MiG-31BM's ability to carry AG munitions is also seemingly only a feature on the MiG-31BM prototype from the 1990s (not to be confused with the proper serial production MiG-31BM from 2008 onwards). There has been not a single instance of a modern MiG-31BM carrying AG munitions apart from the Kinzhal on MiG-31K/MiG-31I. The only pictures of a "MiG-31BM" carrying Kh-31s and Kh-59s is of that 1990s prototype.

Secondly, the R-33 as you have represented it in-game is a bit wrong. See, the original R-33 variant (which is actually represented quite well in vanilla DCS) is a bit of a piece of <profanity>. It had only 60 seconds of battery life, did NOT have loft, and had terrible range (for a "long range" missile, that is). Range charts show that the R-33 had about the same amount of range as the R-27ER due to it's deficiencies. Now, this is still pretty good when going up F-15s and F/A-18s armed with AIM-7s, and the MiG-31 should still far outrange them in an early 1980s environment, but it's not the super duper ultra long range missile that it is in the mod.

Now, the R-33 you have in the mod is actually a pretty good representation of the R-33S which allegedly did fix a lot of the R-33's issues. It's not known what exactly was changed, but apparently the range increase was so great that some Soviet officials themselves didn't believe it. It can be assumed that upgrades were made to the battery life, motor and lofting profile. But again, these are assumptions. I'd recommend you rename the R-33 in the mod to the "R-33S" and add the vanilla R-33 as a weapon option as it is actually simulated quite well in terms of range (you might need to make only a few minor adjustments).

 

Hey, nice roundup of some inconsistencies that I also was wondering about.

1. R-33 and R-37s on wing pylons will stay as optional choice just like I left R-27 although someone noted to me that they shouldn't be there. I knew that but I decided to leave it to someone who wants to have more fun in their games. Because the weapon is selectable I will just leave it there and let the player to make a decision. If more people would like to it being deleted there's no problem for me to do it, I just never considered it being an issue, again due to it being selectable.

2. I decided to add Kh-31P missiles based on one or two old photos with this payload seen. I thought about the possibility of it being a prototype but I also haven't seen any sources saying that it for sure can't carry these missiles, and the fact that we don't see the payload used doesn't prove it not being possible, especially with russian weapon systems. I don't plan to add any other AG weapons at this moment.

3. I thought about making it a separate R-33S variant but while making the missiles I got confused with all the missile variants. I will probably add R-33 basic variant soon, but right now I don't have a lot of time. Can't just use ED's R-33 as it's blowing up on launch . But will do that as I was simply putting this away due to lazyness.

Overall thanks for pointing it out and especially the R-33.