I can also see the Belgians giving up their combat aircraft component all together.

This is providing a very big ‘if’, the USAF decides to commit the F-22A to combat. The way things are going, it will probably not see combat in the near future. The F-15 and the F-22 would only ever face off against one another if the U.S. were to attack Russia. The U.S. is not going to do that. Why? Russia still has nuclear missiles pointed at Washington. The MiG-31 will probably never be exported, so the USAF will never encounter it over the skies of Iran or North Korea. Not too many nations have the money to invest in such a one tricky pony for their air arms. The MiG-31 may be a fine interceptor, but it is not the super fighter mig-31bm claims it is. I think the MiG-31 from the movie “Firefox” is what he/she has in mind.

no but it possible from 80K feets to 100 or 125K feets , the highest flying aircraft is mig-25 not SR-71

The highest air-breathing jet record is held by the Ye-266, a MiG-25 prototype. The production foxbat did not have that performance, besides the blackbird was faster.

how the f-22 can shot down the mig-31 if it’s missiles can’t even turn at the altitude where mig-31 is flying ? , and mig-31 have L-band radar + IRST so stealth will not be a problem , not to mention the higher altitude help it see the target where their RCS is biggest

Like I stated before, the MiG-31 is not going to fly and fight at 95,000′. Anyone who believes that the MiG could even hide at that altitude is dreaming. Back in reality, the MiG-31 and the F-22 would find themselves at comparable altitudes. The F-22 would cruise in at supersonic speed and hit the MiG before the pilots even knew what happened. The MiG-31 cannot super cruise and does not possess anti-radar capability like the F-22. It is tough to hit something you can’t see coming…

MiG-31 is not 6th gen obviously, but i believe its charactheristics mostly are. A time will come where technology will come to a level thath missiles will really do what they are supposed to do and maneuverability will become obsolete. Next gen fighters, as a result, will be very much like MiG-31, supersonically cruising flying bricks with long endurance, great sensors and missiles, use long range missiles to take out other targets at BVR, use HOBS missiles with 360 deg coverage in WVR; and efficiently drop high precision weapons at high speed/altiude.

The same happened to the U.S. in Vietnam. F-4’s were missile carriers that were easy targets for VPAAF MiGs. The Navy created Top Gun as a way to re-orient pilots to dog fighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIClWYKK1o even the mig-25 can cruise at that altitude , there no reason why the mig-31 can’t, the max altitude of mig-31 is about 125k feets
first mig-31’s missiles (r-37 , r-40 ) have much bigger wing compared to aim-120 or r-77 so they are more suited for high altitude , secondly , since f-15 cruise at much lower altitude where the air is denser it will be easier for mig-31’s missiles to maneuver while a missiles fired at mig-31 willnot only have to climb up( lose energy ) but also have more trouble maneuver due to thin air

125,000′ is pure dreamland. I don’t think it could do that stripped and empty with only a single pilot on board. Eagle has a faster climb rate anyway.

I’d like to see Canada wind-up with the F/A-18F. It is a natural fit. They already operate the predecessor and, from what I understand, the transition between the two types isn’t that significant. The F-35 is nice, but in the frozen wilds of Canada, two engines can mean the difference between life and death.