Project MiG-41 is Dead: Why Rumors of the PAK DP Revival are Fake

Foreign media reported that the Mikoyan Design Bureau has already completed the formation of the appearance of the promising long-range interceptor MiG-41. Aviation expert Alexei Zakharov explained why these reports cannot be believed.

He drew attention to the fact that the sources mainly refer to the statement of the commander of the Russian Air Force (VVS), Vladimir Popov. According to the former high-ranking military official, the first flight of the prototype of the Prospective Aviation Complex for Long-Range Interception (PAK DP) will take place "in the coming years".

It Won't Work Out

The media wrote that the development of the MiG-41 is a continuation of work that began in the late Soviet period in the 1980s. Research was suspended for decades, but later resumed, and now the concepts of those years are being embodied in real equipment.

Zakharov noted that in the second half of the 1980s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau was conducting such work. However, this is "loudly said."

There were two elderly employees of the project department who were drawing the MDP (Multifunctional Long-Range Interceptor, internal code of the Design Bureau - ed.701) - each with their own version. In the early 90s, work intensified (mainly through the efforts of the new head of the project department, Leonid Ivanovich Bondarenko, one of the "defectors" from the Sukhoi Design Bureau). However, funding for the topic was never opened, and it quietly "faded away."

Alexei Zakharov, military expert

Sisyphean Labor

Zakharov stated that the assessments of foreign experts regarding the "future" of the Russian interceptor are very doubtful. They indicate that one of the key indicators of the PAK DP is the maximum flight speed, likely up to 4.5 Mach.

This is unlikely. Yes, the problem of airframe heating can be solved by using titanium and steels in the design. However, turbofan engines are unlikely to be able to provide such speed. This requires combined engines - ramjet engines, and their creation is not an easy task.

Alexei Zakharov, military expert

Zakharov also called the predicted characteristics of the hypothetical interceptor doubtful. The empty weight of the aircraft abroad is estimated at 50 tons, and the take-off weight at 100 tons.

At the same time, the take-off weight of the huge Tu-22M3 bomber-missile carrier is 112 tons. For comparison, the heavy long-range interceptor Tu-128 weighed "only" 40 tons, but it was created for completely different tasks.

It is generally accepted that the MiG-31, the predecessor of the PAK DP, was created to intercept air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) launched from carriers attacking, conditionally speaking, through the North Pole. This is not the case. The B-52 could carry up to 20 ALCM missiles - the "thirty-firsts" simply would not have enough ammunition. And intercepting a low-flying cruise missile is a very difficult task, even for the MiG-31 with its radar station.

Alexei Zakharov, military expert

Instead of an Epitaph

Zakharov concludes that in the current conditions, the task of effectively covering against such an attack, even quantitatively, cannot be solved in a reasonable time.

Therefore, the "foreign news" on the PAK DP program, in modern language, is simply fake. After the reorganization, the Mikoyan Design Bureau will clearly solve other tasks than implementing half-century-old concepts.

Alexei Zakharov, military expert

At the same time, the Mikoyan Design Bureau noted that they will develop a new MiG to train cadets to fly sixth-generation aircraft. The director of the enterprise, Alexei Matveev, noted that such a vessel should be reliable and simple, and on the other hand, modern and meeting the requirements of tomorrow.

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