LMFS (Light multi-functional aircraft) - 2005
By 2005, the topic began to be called "light multi-functional aircraft." The role of the fighter-bomber, apparently, did not suit the customer. The issue of replacing the Su-25 in the near future is also on the agenda. Why in this connection not to confuse the new aircraft with yet another role, especially considering that work in this direction was carried out 20 years ago? It must be assumed that for LMFS the task of ironing the trenches with NURSs will not become typical. Using a fighter priced at $ 40 million (cost for an internal customer) with a pilot, for the preparation of which another $ 3-5 million is spent today, in such dangerous maneuvers is rather silly. Most likely, these roles will be played by a light attack aircraft based on the Yak-130, including an unmanned one.
High thrust-to-weight ratio, which is due to the requirements of super-maneuverability, makes it possible to create a variant with vertical landing and short take-off based on the machine. The advantages of such a carrier-based fighter become obvious, if the Su-33 can be based on a ship with a displacement of 50-60 thousand tons, the MiG-29K / KUB recently created with the money of Indian customers can reduce this to 28 thousand tons, then a light multi-function aircraft can even be based on properly trained corvette helipads. A fighter with a vertical take-off / landing with a normal load (four guided air-to-air missiles) has a flight range of about 1000 km and a range of 340 km.
The appearance of such a machine in the Navy will radically change the balance of power, as it becomes possible to create a single combat ship with a relatively small displacement, in the class of a destroyer or missile cruiser, which is capable of carrying from 8 to 15 multi-functional fighters. In this case, the role of long-range cruise missiles will completely transfer to carrier-based aviation, since the range of the complex will increase to 2000 km, while target designation is provided by the fighters themselves.
The appearance of a light multi-purpose front-line aircraft can be expected after the PAK FA launch in a series in 2014-2016. Domestic air forces can get about 260 cars, the fleet - 60. Obviously, the export component in the production of LMFs will be much more significant, since aircraft with similar capabilities for such money are not even developed today.
In November 2006 it was reported that the Russian Air Force had made an unexpected shift in the priorities for its future fighter, with the service to back the simultaneous development of two programs for a fifth-generation aircraft. The PAK FA medium-weight fighter program, which had been underway since 2002, was joined by MiG's lighter-weight aircraft project. In addition to the goal of winning domestic orders, MiG's light multi-role fighter, built on the company's earlier experience with its MiG 1.44 program, also may attract India as a co-developer and future customer.
In April 2002, the Russian military chose Sukhoi's T-50 proposal in the fifth-generation fighter contest - which was codenamed the Perspektivniy Aviatsionniy Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatsii (PAK FA), or future tactical aviation air system. The Sukhoi T-50's rival in 2002 was the MiG design, the exact designation of which is classified. Later, when MiG Corp. decided to continue this program, it received the codename Liogkiy Mnogofunktsionalniy Frontovoi Samolyot (LMFS) or Light Multi-role Tactical Aircraft. MiG Corp. did not accept defeat in the contest against Sukhoi.
In 2005 MiG's LMFS project came out of the shadows again. The Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) started analyzing the development options for a home-grown fifth-generation fighter, called the Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA), which was a twin-engine version of the its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas fighter. After a bad experience with the LCA, India sought a partner in Russia for the MCA program, which eventually resulted in the joint development of the Sukhoi T-50.
A great advantage of the MiG project is the fact that its design and technical parameters are significantly different from the Sukhoi T-50. As a result, the market does not have to choose between an "either-or" situation, and both aircraft can find their place, depending upon the needs of potential export clients.
The LMFS will be about 30% lighter than the T-50. According to approximate assessments, the T-50 would have a normal take-off weight of 21 tons, which places it between present MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters - whereas the LMFS is likely to weigh 15 tons. Possibly, the LMFS will retain the delta canard configuration of the heavy MiG 1.44 prototype.
In April 2006, the St. Petersburg-based Klimov Company announced that it had started design work on a new engine for the next-generation lightweight fighter being developed by MiG Corp. Although MiG has yet to define all of its requirements for the future engine, Klimov representatives said their powerplant will have increased thrust, a vectoring nozzle and modular design.
Russian Aircraft Corporation (RSK) "MiG" is working on lightweight fighter of the fifth generation, but does not have a corresponding order, CEO Sergei Korotkov told TASS at the Le Bourget air show 18 June 2015. "Orders for this plane we do not yet have. But we continue to work. We know that the market for such a fighter is quite capacious in the world", - he said. The CEO said that there is "a very large number of our aircraft" MiG-29 in the world which "need a replacement."
RAC "MiG" based on the prototype of the MiG-1.44 is developing another prospective fifth-generation fighter, said September 29 Tass source in the military-industrial complex. RAC "MiG" is working on a lightweight fighter of the fifth generation, despite the absence of Ordering. "RAC" MiG "is developing a second version of the PAK FA. It is based on aerodynamic configuration of the MiG-1.44, and those developments that were on this prototype," - a spokesman said.
According to him, "it would be an easy option PAK FA" which will not compete with the model T-50, developed by the company "Sukhoi". In June 2015, the RAC "MiG", the corporation continued to work on a light fighter of the fifth generation, in spite of the absence of the order. Earlier it was reported that the platform of the aircraft can be of the MiG-35. In the United Aircraft Corporation stated that the creation of a light fighter was not a priority for the company.
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