Project PAK DP: replacement for MiG-31
According to reports, the work on the PAK DP project started several years ago, but for several reasons, the program still remains in its early stages. Because of this, in particular, it was repeatedly reported about those or other plans of the military and designers, but most of the technical details remains unknown. Perhaps in some cases this is due to the ongoing formation of the interceptor and the lack of relevant developments.
For the first time, the intention of the military to get a new interceptor to replace the MiG-31 was announced in 2013 year. Then Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev told about the plans of the military department to create a promising aircraft. At that time, the possibility of developing a project under the current State Armaments Program was considered. In this case, the project was supposed to appear before the 2020 year. Subsequent mass production of the aircraft would have allowed the 2028 to completely replace all existing MiG-31-type vehicles.
The following messages appeared in the early spring of 2014. According to the data of that time, the Chief of General Staff signed a document on the start of the development of a new aircraft designed to replace the existing technology. It was noted that the promising interceptor will be developed on the basis of the existing MiG-31 and will receive the designation MiG-41. The technical details of the new project were not specified, although various assessments were made. For example, it was argued that the maximum speed of the new MiG-41 may exceed M = 4.
A few months later there were new information about the project, covering the topic of the timing of its implementation. In August 2014 of the Air Force Commander-in-Chief, Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev, said that research work on the PAK DP program had already begun, and experimental design works would start with 2017. According to the commander, the production aircraft of the new type had to go to the troops by 2025. It is easy to notice that in about a year the plans have changed noticeably, but now they looked more elaborate.
Long before the planned start of development work, in February 2015 of the year, the leadership of the Russian aircraft manufacturing corporation MiG expressed its readiness to participate in the new program of the PAK DP. The head of the organization, Sergei Korotkov, noted that a project of this magnitude can only be carried out within the framework of a state program. RAC "MiG" has extensive experience in the development of interceptor aircraft, and therefore could take part in the planned work. Soon S. Korotkov said that his corporation is actively developing heavy-weight interceptors that can replace existing equipment in the future.
In August 2015, the air force commander announced a change in current plans. V. Bondarev said that development work on the PAK DP topic would begin no earlier than 2019 of the year, i.e. two years later from the originally planned deadlines. At the same time, such a change in the schedule of work should not affect the state of the interceptor fleet that the Air Force has. To maintain the required potential, it was necessary to continue the modernization of the front-line equipment.
At the same time, in August of 2015, another organization of the defense industry expressed its intention to participate in the “Advanced Long Range Interception Aviation Complex” program. Yury Bely, General Director of the VV Tikhomirov Research Institute of Instrument Engineering (Zhukorovsky), spoke about the beginning of work on shaping the radio-electronic systems of the future aircraft. He noted that the creation of the radar "Barrier" used on the MiG-31 interceptors was a landmark for the NIIP. Tikhomirov, and the station itself turned out to be the organization’s “calling card”. In this regard, the Institute showed interest in the new program and decided to join it.
At that time, research work was already carried out to determine the avionics appearance of the PAK DP aircraft. The possibility of creating a new complex based on the product "Barrier" or newer systems such as Bars, Irbis, etc. was considered. Among other things, the possibility of developing a promising radar and related equipment based on equipment created for the fifth-generation fighter PAK FA / T-50 was studied. At the same time, however, as of August 2015, the NIIP them. Tikhomirov was not yet officially appointed as a developer of onboard electronic systems.
In December, the CEO of RAC "MiG" reiterated the progress of work on 2015. According to S. Korotkov, the corporation has already started developing a new interceptor aircraft. By this time, experts had an understanding of what should be a promising PAK DP, and began to determine its technical appearance. In particular, the project planned to use the most modern materials and new principles of military aircraft industry. At the same time, all the work was allegedly conducted at the expense of the state budget. Any information about the completion of certain works was not announced.
In the future, the topic of developing the PAK DP Interceptor was repeatedly raised by various officials and the media, but new information on the timing of the work, the customer’s plans and industry, or the technical details of the project did not appear. As a result, for the entire 2016 year and the first months of the current 2017, the amount of available information about the promising program has hardly changed.
Just a few days ago, 14 June 2017 of the Kommersant publication published an interview with the new CEO of the MiG Corporation, Ilya Tarasenko. During the conversation with journalists, the head of the company spoke about the latest transformations, plans for the development of the corporation, as well as about the successes in the development and construction of aviation equipment. Among other things, the topic of creating a promising interceptor aircraft was touched upon. According to I. Tarasenko, at present the MiG designers are working on the concept of the project and are working on the look of the aircraft. Works are carried out in an initiative order, but with the involvement of related organizations.
While the new PAK DP aircraft is not ready for mass production and operation, the troops will have to use modernized MiG-31 vehicles. According to current plans, in the future, the military department may be offered another project to modernize existing equipment. However, by the time the updated MiG-31BM will again need to be repaired and upgraded, the new PAK DP will be put into operation. In the meantime, the future interceptor is being worked out, as well as the modernization of the vehicles in service.
The possibility of replacing MiG-31 interceptors in the distant future was discussed for many years, but until a certain time did not go beyond conversations and preliminary studies. Only in 2013, the principal decision was made to develop a new aircraft of the required type. Nevertheless, due to the presence of a successful project for the modernization of existing equipment, the development of the new program of the PAK DP was shifted several years ahead. Because of this, as has been repeatedly reported, the first serial interceptors of the new type will go to the troops only in the middle of the next decade.
According to the latest reports on this subject, development work on the topic “Advanced Long Range Interception Aviation Complex” will start only in 2019 year. In the meantime, the aviation industry and related businesses are engaged in research and development work, the purpose of which is to create a technical appearance and create requirements for the machine. As a result, at the moment it is too early to talk about any technical details of the project. At the same time, over the past few years, several versions of a possible approach to the creation of the PAK DP and, as a result, features of its appearance have been repeatedly mentioned.
Back in 2013-14, it was mentioned several times that the new PAK DP / MiG-41 interceptor can be developed based on the existing MiG-31 aircraft. This version still has its supporters, but has not yet received official confirmation. Moreover, in the course of current research projects, a similar approach to the creation of new technology may be considered unprofitable. As a result, the new aircraft is unlikely to be based on the ideas and solutions of the existing project. At the same time, it is impossible to exclude a certain similarity caused by the implementation of certain concepts.
It should be noted that the first attempt to create a replacement for the MiG-31 was made in the eighties. The project with the working title “701” was supposed to create a promising long-range interceptor, characterized by a significant increase in the basic characteristics. As a result, the aircraft was proposed, built according to the “tailless” scheme with a developed center wing and front horizontal tail. Two engines planned to be placed above the wing in the tail section of the machine. With a take-off mass of more than 70, such an aircraft could take on more than 12 and weapons, including long-range air-to-air missiles. The maximum speed was planned to bring to 2500 km / h, the range - to 7 thousand km. The project was stopped in the early nineties due to lack of funding.
In this situation, there is virtually no opportunity to predict the appearance of the future of the PAK DP, without allowing serious errors. One can only try to imagine these or other features of such equipment, with the help of which it can not only fully replace the existing machines, but also give the aerospace forces new possibilities. Obviously, the current assumptions may coincide with the real result of the PAK DP program, but the probability of this is not too great.
The most important feature of the serial MiG-31 is the maximum flight speed to 3000 km / h, which allows them to reach the missile launch line as soon as possible. It cannot be ruled out that when forming the appearance of a promising machine, the military department will consider it necessary to preserve such possibilities. Another characteristic feature of the existing technology is the Zaslon / Zaslon-M radar, which allows detecting large objects at distances up to 400 km. Modern progress in the field of radio-electronic systems, at least in theory, makes it possible to obtain a new increase in characteristics with obvious consequences for combat effectiveness. Most powerful weapons MiG-31 is a long-range missile P-33, the latest modifications of which are capable of hitting targets at distances of about 300 km.
It is not difficult to notice that a serious increase in the combat effectiveness of interceptors can be obtained even while maintaining the “platform” in the form of a glider with a power plant. Thus, the variant with the deep modernization of the MiG-31 aircraft, which implies the use of new avionics and advanced weapons, looks very interesting. Nevertheless, for some reason or other, the authors of the technical specifications of the PAK DP program may reject this opportunity and recommend the development of an interceptor from scratch, even if using existing developments.
According to the available data, the issues of the technical appearance of the “Perspective long-range aviation intercept system” are still being considered by specialists, and this stage of the program will continue in the foreseeable future. The development of the PAK DP / MiG-41 project starts only at the end of the current decade, and the first tangible results will be obtained only in the mid-twenties. Until the appearance of a sufficient number of new aircraft, interception tasks will be solved by existing modifications of the MiG-31 vehicles.
Existing plans for the development of a group of interceptor aircraft are not distinguished by high speed of execution, but their implementation will allow maintaining the required defenses over the next few decades. The development of the PAK DP project, which starts in 2019, will eventually lead to a gradual replacement of existing MiG-31 and a corresponding increase in the potential of aerospace forces. In the meantime, we should wait for new messages on the progress of the program, which, in particular, will be able to reveal the technical features of the promising project.
On the materials of the sites:
http://ria.ru/
http://tass.ru/
http://tvzvezda.ru/
http://kommersant.ru/
http://bastion-opk.ru/
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