Article Summary: Russia’s MIG-41 is being promoted as a next-generation stealth fighter that can surpass NATO’s F-35 and F-22. With its assumption capabilities such as Mach 4+ Speed, space combat, and weapons of sanitary conflict, aircraft sound more like science fiction than reality.
Key Point #1 – Given Russia’s struggle with the SU-57 program and economic constraints from the Ukrainian War, the development of the MIG-41 is unlikely. The lack of work prototypes creates even more doubt, not to mention the production timeline.
Key Point #2 – Russia boasts epic plans for the Air Force, but the MIG-41 does not move beyond the ambitious, but unrealistic boundaries with flashy artist renderings.
MIG-41: Is it a Russian future fighter, or is it just a fantasy?
The Russians certainly have a talent for dramatic and excessive imagination. The MIG-41, also known as the PAK DP, is believed to be developed by Russia, a sixth generation stealth fighter. It will replace the aging MIG-31 Foxhound Interceptor and compete with NATO’s F-35.
Russia is well aware that the US is developing sixth generation fighter jets.
Of course, Russian concept aircraft are several years away from what the US and China have. So here is what Russia “claims” that aircraft can be made.
Russia’s claims regarding MIG-41 specifications
Powered by a turbo ramjet engine, the MIG-41 is designed to reach speeds of Mach 4-4.3 (3,068-3,452 mph), making it one of the fastest aircraft ever developed.
Aircraft use advanced materials and technology to reduce radar visibility and are extremely stealthy.
The MIG-41 is designed to intercept and fire off postponed missiles and weapons. It uses anti-missile lasers, and operates in close-to-space environments and can destroy satellites.
According to a Russian report, the PAK DP (Future Air Complexes for Long Range Interceptors) project is a programme that develops next-generation stealth interceptor aircraft. However, it is difficult to find good information about the Russian PAK DP program.
Currently, it exists only as a concept drawing. However, Migflug reports that there is little known about it, as “it’s so secret.” The Bulgarian military report said in 2023 that it will be in service within the first flight of that year and two to three years. Hmm.
Is Russia skipping generations?
Russia has decided to skip the fifth-generation fighter to go straight to the sixth, but it claims that the MIG-41 is an aircraft “5++, perhaps even the sixth-generation.” The SU-57 was, on the surface, a five-generation stealth fighter.
They built a dozen or so, about a third of them crashed. Currently they are using it very ti-disease in Ukraine, limited to launching long-range missiles from within Russia, showing a risk-averse approach and showing how little stealth is. Russian handy China ridiculed the SU-57 at a Chinese airshow where many non-stealth properties can be seen.
The Ukrainian radar picked up the SU-57 through Crimea and was escorted by the SU-35’s fleet. If it’s so stealth, why do you need escorts? India was originally part of the SU-57 program, but it retreated in 2018 as Jet “…failed to meet the requirements of stealth, combat avionics, radar and sensors.
Design challenges
The Russians promote the ultimate stealth, but are currently uncapable. There’s even talk of radius guns, but these features don’t exist anywhere. At near-highsonic speeds, the heat generated by air friction seriously degrades the stealth coating they may have.
There is no propulsion system for aircraft flying at such speeds. Again, Russia does not have the ruble to pay for such research and development.
The artist’s rendering is very similar to the American-designed sixth generation rendering on the front of the aircraft. In contrast, the rear part of the aircraft is very similar to the F-35.
The war with Ukraine is struggling with Russia’s economy, and many of the components and materials needed to build aircraft must be purchased from the West. The country doesn’t have the budget to build enough aircraft already in use, and don’t worry about developing and testing new designs.
So, does the design of this concept even have a prototype that looks out there, or will it be something like the intense Russian one that has nothing to back it up?
Russian MIG-41: A collection of possible designs
MIG-41. Image credit: Creative Commons.
MIG-41. Image credit: YouTube screenshots.
MIG-41 artist rendering. Image credit: Creative Commons.
MIG-41 image. Image credit: Russian national media.
Numbers, Russians love numbers, but they don’t
When we think of Russia, it was a grassland during World War II, where a massive amount of tanks roared over the snow, and a handful of German tanks trying to stop them was helpless.
This is the opposite. Their aviation assets are aging, and their proud SU-57s are only about 12 strengths. Felons rely too much on components blocked by Western sanctions. They cannot mass-produce these. They build aircraft in single digits a year.
How will it stand up to the hundreds of NATO F-35s that the US and its allies are currently buying? By 2030, Lockheed Martin expects at least 535 F-35s to be operated in Europe by partners. It doesn’t count US aircraft. How many SU-57s are there?
Therefore, the Russians are currently promoting MIG-41. In an interview at the Russian military’s Cultural Centre, Alexander Tarnaev of the Russian province’s Duma Defense Committee, said: He has already signed the document to carry out research work on the MIG-41 project. ”
This Mig-41 sounds like a mysterious weapon. The comments from Putinhonks on this film are hilarious, but I think something will be built. As for the number of Star Wars that this aircraft is supposed to produce, I don’t think it has that much power.
This fantasy aircraft will not pop out of the artist’s board.
About the author
Steve Balestieri is a national security columnist in 2019. He served as US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing for 19 FortyFive, he covers the NFL on Patsfans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His works were regularly featured in many military publications.
