MIKOYAN IS considering developing a new, more-affordable, fighter to replace the Article 1.42, using technology from its stalled fifth-generation fighter programme.
A senior official from the design bureau has admitted that the 1.42 is virtually unaffordable for the Russian air force.
Anatoliy Belosvet, deputy general director of MAPO-MiG, says that the 1.42 - also known as the MFI (Mnogofunktsionalny Frontovoy Istribityel - multi-role frontal fighter) is a "...very expensive aircraft...there is no hope that our air force will purchase it extensively - at best two or three examples a year".
Quoted in Russian magazine Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Belosvet, however, maintains that "...it is necessary to continue the project...it is a catalyst for development of new technologies which must be employed".
Mikoyan has been working on the 1.42 design since the early 1980s. At least one prototype has been completed, with fast-taxi trials being carried out in late 1994 at Zhukovksy. The aircraft, however, has yet to fly - principally because of a lack of funds and through technical problems.
The 1.42 is a large, close-coupled delta-canard design, with a take-off weight of around 35t. The aircraft was intended to replace the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker in the air-superiority role.o
At the same time as Mikoyan was working on the 1.42, it also carried out initial design work and windtunnel model tests on the Legkiy Frontovoi Istrebityel (Light Frontal Fighter). Development of this project was stopped in the latter half of the 1980s, with emphasis switching to the 1.42.
Source: Flight International
