Para el que quiera algo de info acerca del Zaslon:
Zaslon Phased Array Radar The key to the MiG-31's effectiveness lies in its weapons system, which is probably the most effective ever fitted to a Soviet fighter aircraft. The heart of the system is the SBI-16 Zaslon radar, codenamed 'Flash Dance' by NATO. This is said to be the world's most powerful fighter radar, with a higher output in kilowatts than any other radar.
When a MiG- 31 visited the 1991 Paris air salon, the radome was removed in the static aircraft park (much to everybody's surprise), revealing the radar's fixed, phased array antenna, believed to have been the first such antenna in a fighter. The radar's designers (the Research Institute of Equipment Design) describe such small phase array radars as 'Arrowhead' radars, this being a partial acronym (Arrays Of High Efficiency And Directivity) and claim a number of advantages. Since the antenna cannot move, the radar beam is 'pointed' electronically.
The fixed antenna allows the full fuselage diameter to be used for the antenna, with no space for movement. This is significant since antenna diameter and effective operating range are directly related. The fixed antenna allows the radar beam to be steered faster and more accurately than with a conventional moving antenna and allows 'controlled beamshaping'. The radar designers also claim that fewer sidelobes are generated (and that such sidelobes as are generated can be better controlled). They also claim that reliability and radar gain can be maximized while minimizing weight complexity.
Mikoyan claims that the antenna also allows rear hemisphere coverage, through 120 degrees on each side of the centerline. This is remarkable, since even with no rearward facing capability, the proximity of the radar emitters to the pilot would seem potentially hazardous. The only other operational phased array electronically steered antenna is that of the APQ-164 radar of the B-IB.
Tired of accusations of copying Western technology, Soviet designers are eager to point out that their radar was in service two years before that of the B-IB. The radome of the MiG-31 at Paris was covered by thin muslin, which obscured some details. Waveguides were loot visible, but there did appear to be 24 horizontal rows of metallic emitters. Small dipoles spread across the face of the radome are probably for IFF or constant wave illumination for a semi-active radar-homing missile. It is uncertain as to what waveband is used, although Yuri Guskov, chief designer at Phazatron, has stated that the radar operates at "slightly lower than S- band" which corresponds to NATO's D-band.
This raises more questions than it answers, since some Western analysts suggest that such a waveband would give a wide beam and inadequate resolution at long range. I- or G-bands are felt by some to be more likely, and Aviation Week stated that the radar operated in the mid l-band (9-9.5 GHz). All signal processing is digital. The radar allows the simultaneous tracking of 10 targets, and the simultaneous engagement of four targets. The aircraft's BTsVM(S) mission computer automatically selects the four most threatening targets for engagement. Radar performance IS Impressive, with a detection range (for a target with 16 m2 (172 sq ft) cross-section) of 200 km (124 miles) and a tracking range of 120km (74 miles). The phased array antenna allows the beam to sweep through 120 degrees in azimuth and from 70 degrees above the nose to 60 degrees below. The Russians claim that this allows the MiG-31 to engage targets spread over a greater area than can its Western equivalent, the F-14, although the Western aircraft call simultaneously engage a greater number of targets Mikoyan claims that the MiG-31 radar is capable of engaging missiles, and have referred to the aircraft as being like a patriot missile which can fly 'repeated missions'. They also claim to be testing the weapons system against 'Stealth' aircraft.
The radar also has navigation and situation monitoring functions although navigation is more routinely handled by Marshroot (Soviet equivalent to Omega) and Tropik (Soviet equivalent to LORAN) systems, which give a accuracy of 250 m (820 ft) at a range of 2000 km (1,243 miles). The MiG-31 was designed to operate in those areas where there is no ground-based radar coverage, such as the north, using its sophisticated onboard systems for autonomous operations MiG-31s are most often used in group of four (or even eight), linked together by datalink. Operating together, four MiG-31s can cover a strip of territory 900 km (560 miles) across, and targets can be transferred rapidly from one aircraft to another, with all aircraft sharing the same image on their tactical situation displays. The transmission of target information between aircraft by datalink reduces the vulnerability to hostile jamming, while the radar's, angular tracking circuits are hard to deceive. Information denied by hostile jamming can be recovered using kinematic and triangulation methods. The aircraft is provided with secure digital datalinks to the ground (AK-RLDN) and between aircraft (APD-518). Conformal antennas for these are located respectively in the leading edges of the ventral fins and on the sides of the nose (three per side) and rear fuselage (two).
The aircraft's datalinks and powerful radar also allow the MiG-31 to act as a 'mini AWACS' in its own right, directing and controlling other fighters. The lead navigator in a flight of four MiG-31s can even directly steer his wingmen's aircraft, since their autopilots can receive his commands via datalink. Radar is not, however, the MiG-31's only target acquisition and tracking sensor. To provide an emission-free alternative to radar, or to be used in the event of radar failure, the MiG-31 is equipped with a retractable undernose IRST