Welcome back to Military Update Channel.
A new MiG-41 will be created on the basis of the old fighter-interceptor MiG-31, State
Duma Committee on Defense Deputy Alexander Tarnaev told reporters at the Cultural Center
of the armed forces on 28 February 2014.
"The corresponding decision was made chief of the General Staff, he had signed a document
on conducting research work on the MiG-41", - he said.
According to the MP, the MiG-41 "will be embodied all the virtues of the airplane."
In addition, several hundred fighter-interceptor MiG-31 may soon return to the Russian Air
Force, informed Tarnaev.
"The country's leadership decided to return to the system through the repair of fighter-interceptor
MiG-31", - he said.
"We are talking about hundreds of machines, which will be repaired and returned to the
armed forces," - said the deputy.
The MiG-31 is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at extremely low, low, medium,
and high altitudes, day and night, and under adverse weather conditions, the application
of active and passive enemy radar interference and false heat goals.
A group of four MiG-31 is capable of controlling the air space over the front of 800-900 km.
Originally intended to intercept cruise missiles at all altitudes and speeds, as well as low-flying
satellites.
The first mentions of the creation of a new interceptor fighter appeared at the beginning
of 2014.
Then the experts talked about the possible appearance of a supernova interceptor, which
has no analogs.
Only at the end of 2017, in the Russian news agencies, there was official information that
the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) was working on the creation of a new generation
of high-altitude interceptors.
Work on the creation of a high-speed fighter-interceptor has been carried out by the MiG Design Bureau
together with the design bureau of the Sokol aircraft plant in Nizhny Novgorod since the
beginning of the 2010s.
The newest Russian fighter-interceptor MiG-41 should have a speed of at least Mach 4-4.3,
Russian hero, test pilot Anatoly Kvochur told RIA Novosti on 03 February 2014.
So he commented on the State Duma deputy Alexander Tarnaeva message that Russia developed a new
fighter MiG-41 on the basis of the heavy fighter-interceptor MiG-31, whose speed was Mach 2.8.
Tarnaev said at a meeting of experts in aerospace defense that the Chief of General Staff had
signed an order for the deep modernization of Soviet fighter-interceptor MiG-31.
"This upgrade was to have been held twenty years ago.
However, this did not happen, so now increased requirements.
They are including in the (increasing) the interceptor speed to Mach 4-4.3"- Kvochur
said.
The new high-altitude interceptor MiG-41 will be based on the MiG-31, which, according to
experts, still has no analogs in the world, member of the State Duma Committee on Defense
Alexander Tarnaev told "Interfax" 22 January 2016.
"The country's leadership decided to include the project of the long-term high-altitude
interceptor to a new weapons program with the terms of the implementation in 2020.
The machine will be the further development of fighter-interceptor MiG-31, which is decades
ahead of its time.
We do not rule out that the development of a new aircraft may start earlier than 2020
since it is very necessary to our armed forces" Tarnaev said.
One of the most closed projects of the modern Russian defense industry - is the prospective
aviation complex long-range interception, which, under the designation "MiG-41", is
found in fragmentary information on Internet resources since 2015.
As is well known, the basis of modern Russian air defense - a high-speed fighter-interceptor
- the MiG-31 was created on the basis of the legendary MiG-25.
"Thirty-One" was born in the late 1970s, and by the mid-1980 went into mass production.
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the MiG-31 "inherited" joined the Air Force of
Russia and Kazakhstan.
The two post-Soviet states had not sold anyone interceptors, and today they are still flying.
At the same time, Russia launched a large-scale replacement of the "stuffing" of their MiGs,
whereby the possibility of the aircraft destroying air targets increased significantly.
It was decided that the upgraded MiG-31 in the Russian Air Force would be more than 100
machines, and it is possible that the aircraft will be again put into production at a new
technological level (ie, to repeat the story of his ancestor, the MiG-25, becoming in effect
a new project).
Here it is that observers come to the fore with the mysterious MiG-41.
The fact a completely new long-range MiG interceptor was already developed under the code "701
Project" and "TIR", and was around 1990-92.
That 62-ton machine did not have a range of MiG-25 / MiG-31, and its characteristics can
be the most powerful combat fifth-generation air defense aircraft: the developers had planned
to bring the range "701" to 7000 km at a supersonic cruising speed of Mach 2.2 (about 2300 km/h).
The maximum speed of the machine should not have more than 2,500 km/h.
The military did not hurry to disclose the work
on the project, which someone call the MiG-41.
Because of the same fragmentary information in the media can build the following chronology:
the updated MiG-31 would serve faithfully until 2028 when due will be replaced by something
new and special.
And the appearance of a new interceptor may be seen between 2017 and 2020 when designers
will have to present their achievements Russian Defense Ministry.
Now about the "Project 701", the maximum design MiG-41 flight speed would likely develop in
line with the MiG-31.
If the most "advanced" of the MiG-25 and MiG-31 could reach a top speed of 3-3.2 M, the "forty-one"
want to give the opportunity to squeeze up to 4.3 M (ie, up to about 4500 km / h).
Why is it necessary?
The fact that the US is actively developing hypersonic unmanned attack aircraft that need
to intercept.
The speed of these devices is very high, and in the Russian air defense/missile defense
except the latest S-500 ground-based, space sweep over their areas of up to 150 km in
height, must be an air platform capable of rapidly responding to a violation of air space
on distant borders.
At the end of February 2014, a representative of the Defence deputy Alexander Tarnaev State
Duma Committee reported that the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation signed a document on conducting research work on the creation of modern heavy
fighter-interceptor MiG-41, which embody all the advantages of its predecessor - the multipurpose
MiG-31.
Tarnaev also informed that several hundred MiG-31 aircraft will soon be returned to the
composition of the Russian Air Force after the necessary repairs.
"The country's leadership decided to return to the system through the repair of fighter-interceptor
MiG-31", - he explained.
- "We are talking about hundreds of machines, which will be repaired and returned to the
armed forces."
It means a lot for Russian aviation, for its revival and strengthening - especially after
the most promising projects of the twentieth century (which include the MiG-31, and "Project
1.42" Soviet fighter of the 5th generation, which was created in the early 90s, and others)
were forcibly closed on various pretexts and pushed to a dark corner of history, if not
destroyed during the time of the country's total disarmament era adjustment unilaterally.
"This upgrade was to be held even twenty years ago," - says Honored Test Pilot of the USSR,
Hero of Russia, General Designer of FSUE "Flight Research Center" Anatoly Kvochur.
- "However, this did not happen, so now increased requirements.
They are including in the (increasing) interceptor speeds of up to Mach 4-4.3 ". The rate of
4-4.3 Mach - means that the aircraft is capable of flying at speeds of the order of 4920-5289
km \ hour.
By comparison, modern fighters of the last, 5th generation can reach speeds of about 2500
km \ hour or so.
A MiG-31 managed to "accelerate" to 3000 km \ h in the last century.
He was already then called a "fighter ahead of his time".
And not only…
The Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC) MiG will soon present the results of work on the
creation of the fifth-generation MiG-41 fighter.
This was announced on Friday by the general director of the corporation Ilya Tarasenko
on 17 August 2018.
According to him, this is not a mythical project.
Answering the question about the development of the aircraft, Tarasenko said that the work
is being intensively conducted under the auspices of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC),
and soon the results will be presented to the public.
The MiG-31 interceptor will be replaced by a new MiG-41, also called PAK DP, a long-range
aviation interceptor.
The former head of the Air and Space Forces of the Russian Federation, and the chairman
of the Council of the Federation Council on Defense and Security Viktor Bondarev, the
experimental design work for its creation was planned to begin in 2018.
In turn, Tarasenko reported that research and development work on a promising Russian
interceptor is scheduled to begin "in the near future," and its deliveries to the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation are scheduled to begin in the mid-2020s.
In addition to the manned version of this aircraft, the creation of an unmanned vehicle
is also considered.
In June 2019, the director of RAC MiG, Ilya Tarasenko, said that the appearance of a promising
aircraft would be formed by the end of the year.
"A promising aircraft will use new types of aviation weapons, it will be created with
the use of new stealth technologies, it will be able to transport the required amount of
weapons, it will operate at a very large interception radius.
Now all these requirements are laid down in the appearance of the aircraft.
Research work should be completed before the end of the year with an approved appearance,
"Tarasenko said.
He clarified that there is a schedule with the Ministry of Defense for this project.
“We are convinced that such an aircraft is necessary for our country.
This is the next, very big step towards strengthening the defense capability of the state, protecting
the borders of our Motherland.
And this is not only about the Arctic and the East, as it is commonly believed.
We are working on a comprehensive system of global defense of the borders of Russia.
We expect that the PAK DP (a promising long-range intercept aircraft complex) will replace the
MiG-31 when its resource comes to its logical conclusion, "- explained the general director
of the MiG company.
Earlier, the ex-commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel-General
Viktor Bondarev, said that development work on the PAK DP would begin no earlier than
2019.
Serial production of the planned Russian fighter MiG-41 in the future should not be expected,
neither now nor in the near future there is no need for a fifth-generation interceptor.
This opinion was expressed by experts interviewed by journalists from the American edition of
Business Insider.
Combat aviation specialist Justin Bronk of Britain's Royal Joint Institute for Defense
Research said "I don't really hope for an even less proven design concept (MiG-41) to
go into series production any time soon."
From his point of view, skepticism about the prospects of the MiG-41 is added by the serial
production of the T-14 "Armata" tanks and multifunctional fifth-generation fighters
Su-57.
Richard Abulafia, vice president of analytics for the American consulting company Teal Group,
explained that the idea of ?? creating a new generation of interceptors is “life in the
past” since surface-to-air missiles are the best way to intercept air targets.
In his opinion, discussions about the MiG-41 are conducted for advertising purposes, in
particular, the PR of the MiG-29SM.