In the eighties, Soviet designers from the Mikoyan Design Bureau were working on the «superfighter» MiG-1.44 as a counter to the American F-22 aircraft. The project never went into series production, remaining on paper, but it helped develop the Chinese «Mighty Dragon» J-20 (Chengdu Mighty Dragon). This is according to military expert Ritu Sharma in an article for the Eurasian Times.
In the drawings, the MiG-1.44 had an ideal combination of stealth and excellent maneuverability. The developers conducted only two test flights, and then the project was postponed due to funding problems.
The MiG-1.44 prototype was presented to the general public only in 2015 at MAKS-2015. The fighter was intended for close combat.
The MiG-1.42/.44 was designed to achieve a maximum cruising speed of about Mach 2.6. The fighter was somewhat reminiscent of the European Eurofighter Typhoon. At the same time, the first Chinese stealth aircraft, the Chengdu J-20, largely borrowed the design of the MiG-1.44.
For example, the MiG-1.44 and J-20 have a similar delta-wing design and a V-shaped tail section with closely spaced engines. At the same time, the Chinese aircraft had AL-31F engines developed by the «Salyut» company.
The only MiG-1.44 prototype could fly at a speed 1.5 times the speed of sound without using afterburner. The fighter was provided with an impressive arsenal of R.77 air-to-air missiles, R-73 short-range heat-seeking missiles, and R-37 long-range hypersonic air-to-air missiles.
The developers conceived it as a stealth aircraft, planning to use a «radio-absorbing material». In addition, a special material was used in the design of the airframe and wing to reduce the weight of the fighter. The MiG-1.44 could have become a worthy rival to the F-22, but the project was never completed, Sharma concluded.
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