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The 12th International Aviation and Space Expo is taking place in the Russian city of Zhukovsky from August 25 to 30. A full-scale model of the fifth generation stealth fighter, the MiG 1.44 MFI, will be displayed at the exhibition. This aircraft lost out after implementation of the PAK FA program, but interest in this aircraft and its dramatic fate has not declined.
The MiG 1.44, to be on display soon to visitors at MAKS, is unique in that it has never been shown to anyone except journalists, who witnessed a brief demonstration in 1999. The aircraft did not fly then, but did a short run on the tarmac.
Designed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau, the multi-function frontal fighter, as the new aircraft has been defined, will include such capabilities as cruise control at ultra-sonic speeds, high maneuverability, reduced radio and thermal signatures, short take-off and landing, use of latest advances in computer technology for airborne radar equipment, applying new systems controls and much more. These innovations would not increase, but actually decrease expenses on aircraft maintenance both in the air and on land.
Competition for the F-22
Because the Mikoyan Design Bureau started the conceptual design and mock-up of the aircraft in 1991, the new aircraft’s future was compromised. Going through the period of complete deficit of the 1990s, during which the Mikoyan Design Bureau was restructured, becoming RSK MiG and being merged with the Sukhoi Construction Bureau, the MiG 1.44 multifunctional frontal fighter (MFI) took to the air only once, on 29 February 2000. The test pilot, Russian hero Vladimir Gorbunov, is the only pilot to have flown the MFI. He described the aircraft as having high potential.
However, time had been lost. Seen at that time as competition for the American fighter, the Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor, the MiG 1.44 MFI gave way to a new project, the PAK FA, which began in 2002. The only flying model of the MiG 1.44 was left out in the open at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky city. It was kept in a hanger for maintenance in 2013, and will be shown as part of the upcoming aviation salon МАКС-2015.
The MiG 1.44, to be on display soon to visitors at MAKS, is unique in that it has never been shown to anyone except journalists, who witnessed a brief demonstration in 1999. The aircraft did not fly then, but did a short run on the tarmac.
Designed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau, the multi-function frontal fighter, as the new aircraft has been defined, will include such capabilities as cruise control at ultra-sonic speeds, high maneuverability, reduced radio and thermal signatures, short take-off and landing, use of latest advances in computer technology for airborne radar equipment, applying new systems controls and much more. These innovations would not increase, but actually decrease expenses on aircraft maintenance both in the air and on land.
Competition for the F-22
Because the Mikoyan Design Bureau started the conceptual design and mock-up of the aircraft in 1991, the new aircraft’s future was compromised. Going through the period of complete deficit of the 1990s, during which the Mikoyan Design Bureau was restructured, becoming RSK MiG and being merged with the Sukhoi Construction Bureau, the MiG 1.44 multifunctional frontal fighter (MFI) took to the air only once, on 29 February 2000. The test pilot, Russian hero Vladimir Gorbunov, is the only pilot to have flown the MFI. He described the aircraft as having high potential.
However, time had been lost. Seen at that time as competition for the American fighter, the Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor, the MiG 1.44 MFI gave way to a new project, the PAK FA, which began in 2002. The only flying model of the MiG 1.44 was left out in the open at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky city. It was kept in a hanger for maintenance in 2013, and will be shown as part of the upcoming aviation salon МАКС-2015.
