• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Mig-49 "Flicker / Fulminant"

Among the real "MiGs" - planes above the 35th model did not have time to be released - the Soviet Union fell apart. The Mig-49 - the Russian prospective light fifth-generation fighter - would supplement the already existing heavy Su-57 in the troops. Light fighters have both a number of advantages and a number of disadvantages, compared with their heavy brothers. Heavy birds are more suitable for some tasks, and some are better suited to light ones. All the largest air forces in the world are armed with both types, while the rest are chosen depending on the financial capabilities and tasks facing their air forces.

The main advantage of light fighters is the cost. Light fighters are always 30-50% cheaper than their heavy counterparts. This is due to an easier production process, from which the next advantage spills out. Light fighters are always produced in very large series, as they are cheaper and easier to manufacture. Also, due to their lower weight, they are less demanding on runways, and some may even be used for take-off and landing of runways with an unpaved surface, for example, as Mig-29/35. But there are also disadvantages. Together with the weight, the characteristics of the aircraft often decrease. Light fighters always have a smaller combat radius and range, it is possible to place smaller equipment in number and size in them. Usually they have weaker radars than heavy fighters.

There is information that this fighter is already being developed, but will not be released soon. The first flight should be expected only after 2030 , and adoption into service is not at all until 2040 . Now all production and financial resources go to the existing and more necessary aircraft, such as the Su-57, Tu-160M2 and UAV Okhotnik-B.

The first information that the MiG Corporation will be engaged in the creation of a fifth-generation fighter appeared in 2015. Then at the MAKS air show for the first time the general public was presented with the only copy of the MiG 1.44 - the prototype of the fifth generation fighter, which was created in the 1980s.

Work on the creation of the fifth generation fighter began in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s, even earlier than in the United States began to create the F-22 fighter. Even then, in general terms, it became clear what this aircraft should be like. The basic requirements were reduced to five points: the machine should be multifunctional and super-maneuverable, have low visibility, cruising supersonic flight speed and the internal suspension of guided weapons. OKB them. A.I. Mikoyan and Design Bureau P.O.Sukhogo, and as a result, MiG 1.44 and Su-47 (S-37) projects appeared.

Speaking about the fifth-generation aircraft from the MiG RSK, Rogozin said literally the following: “The development of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, the fifth-generation fighter of the PAK FA, is undergoing state tests. The MiG Corporation will also make a fifth generation light fighter.”

People were talking about a light aircraft because the fleet needs this. Largely for this reason, the F-35 fighter program was launched in the United States. Secondly, according to Rogozin, a light fighter has a higher export potential than a heavy one. “Small countries with a limited budget may well do without heavy fighters like the Su-30, the MiG-21, MiG-29 and the possible continuation of this line are quite suitable for them. Most likely, the situation is unlikely to change in the future. For example, at the moment, India plans to begin assembling one hundred light fighters under a foreign license, choosing between the American F-16, the Swedish Gripen and the Russian MiG-35. It should be noted that the MiG-35 can most likely be attributed to middle class fighters,” said aviation expert Vladimir Karnozov.

This means that in the future, MiG RSK may be engaged in the creation of just a light and, possibly, fifth-generation single-engine aircraft. Thirdly, there is a long-established concept that the number of light fighters should exceed the number of heavy. This applies to the air forces of all major countries, including Russia and the United States.

This is due to the fact that the use of an expensive and heavy machine, which has redundant capabilities, is not beneficial for a specific task. Many years ago, the United States adopted a concept that implies the presence of 20% heavy and 80% light fighters in the park. In accordance with it, a heavy F-15 fighter and a light F-16 were developed. A similar approach was adopted by the Soviet Union, which led to the creation of a pair of Su-27 and MiG-29.

By the year 2020 there was a fair amount of artwork floating around depicting a "MiG-49", but there was no particular reason to believe it bore any resemblance to whatever MiG might be working on, and while the designs were all gnarly and such, they were not particuarly persuasive.