New speeds and space potential of the project MiG-41
During the recent international military-technical forum "Army-2017", many statements were made on the topic of further development of domestic weapons and equipment. Much attention was paid to new projects in the field of combat aviation. In particular, some new details of possible ways of further development of the interceptor aircraft group were revealed. As it became known, one of the domestic aviation companies has very remarkable plans in the context of the program "Long-range Interception Advanced Aviation Complex".
New speed and space
New information about the PAK DP program was announced by the Director General of the Russian Aircraft Building Corporation "MiG" Ilya Tarasenko in an interview for the TV channel Zvezda. The head of the company did not go into details, but he made very interesting plans for a new project and some of its features. Some publicized information may be of particular interest in the light of the development of domestic and world aviation.
According to I. Tarasenko, the corporation is already engaged in the creation of a new interceptor aircraft. At the same time, the new project is regarded as the natural development of the already existing MiG-31 aircraft, which solves the same tasks. At the same time, the new interceptor, in terms of technology, will be a completely new aircraft. The project is supposed to use various new technologies, including in the field of reducing visibility. All this will allow the interceptor to work in space, as well as show “new speeds, new radius”. RSK MiG, according to its CEO, plans to implement all the existing developments in the new project.
Modern interceptor MiG-31BM. Photo of Wikimedia Commons
In another interview, the head of MiG told about plans to adapt the aircraft to work in the Arctic regions, for which the project will have to use some appropriate technology. In the long term, the existing project is supposed to be reworked by adding new features. The result of this work can be unmanned modification of the interceptor.
In addition, during the Army-2017 forum, I. Tarasenko announced approximate dates for the start of deliveries of promising interceptors. Currently, the project is at the stage of developing a general concept. In the future, we will have to start full development work. Serial vehicles, conventionally designated as MiG-41, can go to the troops already in the middle of the next decade. The number planned for the construction of airplanes, for obvious reasons, did not specify.
Available information
It should be noted that the fact of the existence of the program “Perspective Aviation Complex of Long-Range Interception”, the purpose of which is to gradually replace the existing MiG-31 aircraft of all modifications, has long been no secret. The plans to create a new interceptor with higher characteristics became known in 2013 year. Nevertheless, any exact information about the technical appearance of the required machine and other features of the project remains unknown. However, from time to time officials announced certain plans, and the proposed schedule of work was repeatedly adjusted.
The desire of the military to create a new interceptor aircraft to replace the MiG-31 became known about four years ago. In 2014, it was announced the start of the preliminary study of the future interceptor. According to the plans of the time, development work was to begin in the next few years. However, as far as is known, this stage of the development of the draft PAK DP has not yet begun for one reason or another. Moreover, already in 2015, the command of the air force clarified that they would launch OCD only in 2019, with a corresponding shift in the timing of the start of mass production.
Back in 2015, several enterprises of the Russian defense complex expressed their desire to participate in the development of a promising aircraft. First of all, the design interest in the PAK DP program was shown by RAC "MiG". Several decades ago, this organization created the existing interceptor MiG-31, and is still engaged in the development of this project. Experience in the development of such aircraft equipment can be used in creating new models of similar purpose.
Almost simultaneously with the appearance of information about the desire of RAC "MiG" to participate in the new program, the working designation of the aircraft, the MiG-41, began to appear in the press. For obvious reasons, such a name appears only in statements by representatives of the aircraft building corporation, while the command of the Aerospace Forces is still using the official name of the entire program - PAK DP.
In December, 2015, Sergey Korotkov, who at that time held the post of head of the RAC "MiG", spoke about the current achievements of the MiG-41 project. By that time, the specialists of the corporation had managed to determine the main features of the future aircraft and began to work out the exact technical look. Also noted the possibility of using the most advanced materials and principles of aviation.
In June, 2017, the new head of the MiG company, I. Tarasenko, reiterated the projects under the PAK DP program. At that time, aircraft manufacturers continued to study the technical appearance of the new aircraft. It was also noted that work is still being carried out on an initiative basis, although with the involvement of some related organizations.
Just a few days ago, the Director General of RAC "MiG" announced new curious details of the project with the symbol MiG-41. The use of new technologies and solutions has already been announced. The possibility of obtaining higher performance characteristics with the help of modern technology have made public officials. At the same time in a promising project can be offered completely new opportunities.
Work in space
The greatest interest in recent statements I. Tarasenko represent information about some kind of work interceptor in space. The head of the aircraft building corporation did not go into details, however, and in this “abbreviated” form, the announced information is of great interest. In particular, such statements have already managed to provoke a wave of forecasts and estimates, the authors of which are trying to understand and predict exactly how the future PAK DP will be able to work in space, and what tasks it will solve under these conditions. Let us also try to determine the prospects of such proposals.
One of the advanced MiG-31D in the hangar. Left - rocket "Contact". Photo Testpilot.ru
Designed to replace existing MiG-31 aircraft, the Advanced Airborne Interception Complex will have to have corresponding combat capabilities. An effective radar station capable of monitoring large areas of airspace and accompanying a significant number of targets will be located on board. In addition, the promising MiG-41 will have to carry various types of air-to-air missiles capable of hitting targets at distances of up to several hundred kilometers.
With the help of such equipment and weapons, the new interceptor, like its predecessor, will be able to patrol, control a given area of airspace and, in the event of the appearance of a dangerous object, carry out an attack. It can be considered that from the point of view of the main combat characteristics, in the role of the aircraft interceptor, the new PAK DP will be superior to the existing machines.
Sounded statements about "work in space" may raise questions in the context of the technical appearance of the aircraft and its combat use. For example, it is obvious that using existing technologies and structures, the MiG-41 itself will not be able to go into outer space. The solution of such problems will require the use of a special look of the machine, which is not very compatible with mass exploitation in parts of the VCS. In this work space can be carried out without raising to great heights, corresponding to the boundary of the atmosphere.
Of great importance for the armed forces of the developed countries have a group of spacecraft for various purposes. The destruction of artificial satellites is still quite a challenge, for the solution of which it is necessary to use special means. At the same time, over the past few decades, in our country and abroad, there have been several attempts to create a relatively simple anti-satellite weapon. In particular, the ideas of creating such systems based on existing aircraft were examined and tested in practice.
A recent statement by I. Tarasenko could have been a hint that the MiG-41 project is considering the possibility of using an interceptor as a carrier of special missiles intended for attacking spacecraft in orbit. In this case, the aircraft will have to raise the rocket to a predetermined height and give it an initial impetus. Further work on the destruction of the target will be performed by a rocket independently.
Project "Contact"
It is recalled that these ideas are not new for the Russian combat aircraft. Back in the late eighties of the last century, two prototype MiG-31D aircraft were built on the basis of serial interceptors. They lost part of the onboard equipment and received new devices. In particular, instead of several units of the suspension of regular rockets, a single unit was used for experienced weapons, characterized by large dimensions. The aircraft reworked in this way became the main element of the 30P6 “Contact” antisatellite complex.
MiG-31D was the carrier of a special 79М6 “Contact” rocket. According to reports, the latter was a three-stage product with solid-propellant rocket engines in the first two stages and a liquid third. For the destruction of spacecraft it was proposed to use the so-called. kinetic interception with the defeat of the target by a direct hit or a high-explosive warhead with a charge of several tens of kilograms. A missile with a length of about 10 m weighing more than 4,5 t, starting from a height of no more than 16-18 km, could hit satellites at altitudes up to 120 km.
Together with the aircraft and the rocket, the “Contact” complex included a radar-optical station for the detection and recognition of space objects 45-X6 “Krona”. It was intended to search for targets in outer space, determine their coordinates and issue target designation to a rocket aircraft carrier. For the transfer of teams had to develop a separate communication system with the required characteristics.
Tests of individual ground facilities of the 30P6 “Contact” complex started in 1985 year. At the beginning of the 1987, the first of the two experienced MiG-31Ds were lifted into the air. According to reports, tests of anti-satellite systems continued until the mid-nineties and ended in connection with problems of an economic nature. Accurate information about the missile tests 79M6 absent. Perhaps it was possible to lift it into the air, but information on this has not yet been published. The project "Contact" did not give the desired results and did not lead to the beginning of the duty of new means of anti-space defense. However, it allowed for a number of important tests and determine the prospects of such weapons.
In 2009, Air Force Commander Colonel-General Alexander Zelin made a curious statement. He recalled the MiG-31D project - the carrier of anti-satellite weapons based on a serial interceptor. At the same time, he noted that at that time it was planned to “reanimate” the old project to solve new problems. However, over the years, new information on this subject did not appear. In addition, some sources mentioned that such work was carried out not for the resumption of work on the subject of “Contact”, but in the interests of other projects.
The fact that our country has a large number of developments and, possibly, certain successes in the creation of aviation complexes with anti-satellite armaments may to some extent reveal the recent statements by the RAC "MiG" leadership about the new capabilities of the PAK DP aircraft. It is quite possible that the claimed “work in space” will be connected precisely with the use of modern analogs of the older 30P6 “Contact” complex with the 79М6 guided missile. The use of modern developments and technologies is likely to improve the basic technical and combat characteristics of such weapons.
MiG-31D during the test. Photo Airwar.ru
However, all this - only assumptions. The management of the company, in a proactive manner, working on the project of the “Perspective Long-Range Aviation Complex”, revealed some of its plans, but is not in a hurry to share details. The VKS command, in turn, has not yet commented on the statements of representatives of the RAC "MiG". Thus, at the moment, the possibility of using the future of the MiG-41 aircraft as a carrier of an anti-satellite rocket remains at the level of assumptions or topics for disputes among specialists and amateurs of military equipment.
additional benefits
However, the use of a new aircraft to intercept trans-atmospheric targets can most significantly increase the combat capability of aerospace forces, and also to some extent simplify the organization of echeloned defense. Other ways to build capacity of the interceptor park will be the use of so-called. stealth technology and the possible creation of an unmanned aircraft modification.
It should be noted that certain methods of reducing the visibility of the aircraft for the detection of the enemy have already been used in recent domestic projects of aviation technology. The development of existing ideas continues and it can be assumed that the future PAK DP aircraft in this regard will be at least as good as the existing samples.
The proposal to create an unmanned modification of the interceptor is also of some interest both to potential customers and to the general public. At present, in our country and abroad, the issue of creating drones heavy class, capable of replacing full-fledged aircraft. The new PAK DP program has every chance of getting a similar development and leading to the emergence of equipment with unusual capabilities. Nevertheless, a heavy UAV will be developed only on the basis of a finished aircraft, which in a certain way shifts the timing of its appearance.
***
According to the latest data, the Russian Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation “MiG”, which proactively develops its own version of the “Perspective Long Range Interception Aviation Complex”, continues to shape the appearance of the car with a working designation MiG-41 and, among other things, offers the most daring ideas. In addition to the already known information, it was recently announced the desire to create a complex capable of operating in space, as well as an unmanned version of an interceptor.
However, the MiG-41 project has not yet received customer support and is still being created at the initiative of the developer company. Thus, the proposed version of the long-range interceptor - even with certain advantages and radically new possibilities - may not leave the preliminary study stage. The development work on the PAK DP theme is expected to start only in 2019, and by this time the Ministry of Defense will have to select the new order executor. Whether RSK MiG will succeed in obtaining an order for developing a new aircraft and embodying the most daring ideas in the project will be shown in time.
On the materials of the sites:
http://tvzvezda.ru/
http://tass.ru/
http://ria.ru/
https://aex.ru/
http://testpilot.ru/
http://ariwar.ru/
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-699.html
New speed and space
New information about the PAK DP program was announced by the Director General of the Russian Aircraft Building Corporation "MiG" Ilya Tarasenko in an interview for the TV channel Zvezda. The head of the company did not go into details, but he made very interesting plans for a new project and some of its features. Some publicized information may be of particular interest in the light of the development of domestic and world aviation.
According to I. Tarasenko, the corporation is already engaged in the creation of a new interceptor aircraft. At the same time, the new project is regarded as the natural development of the already existing MiG-31 aircraft, which solves the same tasks. At the same time, the new interceptor, in terms of technology, will be a completely new aircraft. The project is supposed to use various new technologies, including in the field of reducing visibility. All this will allow the interceptor to work in space, as well as show “new speeds, new radius”. RSK MiG, according to its CEO, plans to implement all the existing developments in the new project.
Modern interceptor MiG-31BM. Photo of Wikimedia Commons
In another interview, the head of MiG told about plans to adapt the aircraft to work in the Arctic regions, for which the project will have to use some appropriate technology. In the long term, the existing project is supposed to be reworked by adding new features. The result of this work can be unmanned modification of the interceptor.
In addition, during the Army-2017 forum, I. Tarasenko announced approximate dates for the start of deliveries of promising interceptors. Currently, the project is at the stage of developing a general concept. In the future, we will have to start full development work. Serial vehicles, conventionally designated as MiG-41, can go to the troops already in the middle of the next decade. The number planned for the construction of airplanes, for obvious reasons, did not specify.
Available information
It should be noted that the fact of the existence of the program “Perspective Aviation Complex of Long-Range Interception”, the purpose of which is to gradually replace the existing MiG-31 aircraft of all modifications, has long been no secret. The plans to create a new interceptor with higher characteristics became known in 2013 year. Nevertheless, any exact information about the technical appearance of the required machine and other features of the project remains unknown. However, from time to time officials announced certain plans, and the proposed schedule of work was repeatedly adjusted.
The desire of the military to create a new interceptor aircraft to replace the MiG-31 became known about four years ago. In 2014, it was announced the start of the preliminary study of the future interceptor. According to the plans of the time, development work was to begin in the next few years. However, as far as is known, this stage of the development of the draft PAK DP has not yet begun for one reason or another. Moreover, already in 2015, the command of the air force clarified that they would launch OCD only in 2019, with a corresponding shift in the timing of the start of mass production.
Back in 2015, several enterprises of the Russian defense complex expressed their desire to participate in the development of a promising aircraft. First of all, the design interest in the PAK DP program was shown by RAC "MiG". Several decades ago, this organization created the existing interceptor MiG-31, and is still engaged in the development of this project. Experience in the development of such aircraft equipment can be used in creating new models of similar purpose.
Almost simultaneously with the appearance of information about the desire of RAC "MiG" to participate in the new program, the working designation of the aircraft, the MiG-41, began to appear in the press. For obvious reasons, such a name appears only in statements by representatives of the aircraft building corporation, while the command of the Aerospace Forces is still using the official name of the entire program - PAK DP.
In December, 2015, Sergey Korotkov, who at that time held the post of head of the RAC "MiG", spoke about the current achievements of the MiG-41 project. By that time, the specialists of the corporation had managed to determine the main features of the future aircraft and began to work out the exact technical look. Also noted the possibility of using the most advanced materials and principles of aviation.
In June, 2017, the new head of the MiG company, I. Tarasenko, reiterated the projects under the PAK DP program. At that time, aircraft manufacturers continued to study the technical appearance of the new aircraft. It was also noted that work is still being carried out on an initiative basis, although with the involvement of some related organizations.
Just a few days ago, the Director General of RAC "MiG" announced new curious details of the project with the symbol MiG-41. The use of new technologies and solutions has already been announced. The possibility of obtaining higher performance characteristics with the help of modern technology have made public officials. At the same time in a promising project can be offered completely new opportunities.
Work in space
The greatest interest in recent statements I. Tarasenko represent information about some kind of work interceptor in space. The head of the aircraft building corporation did not go into details, however, and in this “abbreviated” form, the announced information is of great interest. In particular, such statements have already managed to provoke a wave of forecasts and estimates, the authors of which are trying to understand and predict exactly how the future PAK DP will be able to work in space, and what tasks it will solve under these conditions. Let us also try to determine the prospects of such proposals.
One of the advanced MiG-31D in the hangar. Left - rocket "Contact". Photo Testpilot.ru
Designed to replace existing MiG-31 aircraft, the Advanced Airborne Interception Complex will have to have corresponding combat capabilities. An effective radar station capable of monitoring large areas of airspace and accompanying a significant number of targets will be located on board. In addition, the promising MiG-41 will have to carry various types of air-to-air missiles capable of hitting targets at distances of up to several hundred kilometers.
With the help of such equipment and weapons, the new interceptor, like its predecessor, will be able to patrol, control a given area of airspace and, in the event of the appearance of a dangerous object, carry out an attack. It can be considered that from the point of view of the main combat characteristics, in the role of the aircraft interceptor, the new PAK DP will be superior to the existing machines.
Sounded statements about "work in space" may raise questions in the context of the technical appearance of the aircraft and its combat use. For example, it is obvious that using existing technologies and structures, the MiG-41 itself will not be able to go into outer space. The solution of such problems will require the use of a special look of the machine, which is not very compatible with mass exploitation in parts of the VCS. In this work space can be carried out without raising to great heights, corresponding to the boundary of the atmosphere.
Of great importance for the armed forces of the developed countries have a group of spacecraft for various purposes. The destruction of artificial satellites is still quite a challenge, for the solution of which it is necessary to use special means. At the same time, over the past few decades, in our country and abroad, there have been several attempts to create a relatively simple anti-satellite weapon. In particular, the ideas of creating such systems based on existing aircraft were examined and tested in practice.
A recent statement by I. Tarasenko could have been a hint that the MiG-41 project is considering the possibility of using an interceptor as a carrier of special missiles intended for attacking spacecraft in orbit. In this case, the aircraft will have to raise the rocket to a predetermined height and give it an initial impetus. Further work on the destruction of the target will be performed by a rocket independently.
Project "Contact"
It is recalled that these ideas are not new for the Russian combat aircraft. Back in the late eighties of the last century, two prototype MiG-31D aircraft were built on the basis of serial interceptors. They lost part of the onboard equipment and received new devices. In particular, instead of several units of the suspension of regular rockets, a single unit was used for experienced weapons, characterized by large dimensions. The aircraft reworked in this way became the main element of the 30P6 “Contact” antisatellite complex.
MiG-31D was the carrier of a special 79М6 “Contact” rocket. According to reports, the latter was a three-stage product with solid-propellant rocket engines in the first two stages and a liquid third. For the destruction of spacecraft it was proposed to use the so-called. kinetic interception with the defeat of the target by a direct hit or a high-explosive warhead with a charge of several tens of kilograms. A missile with a length of about 10 m weighing more than 4,5 t, starting from a height of no more than 16-18 km, could hit satellites at altitudes up to 120 km.
Together with the aircraft and the rocket, the “Contact” complex included a radar-optical station for the detection and recognition of space objects 45-X6 “Krona”. It was intended to search for targets in outer space, determine their coordinates and issue target designation to a rocket aircraft carrier. For the transfer of teams had to develop a separate communication system with the required characteristics.
Tests of individual ground facilities of the 30P6 “Contact” complex started in 1985 year. At the beginning of the 1987, the first of the two experienced MiG-31Ds were lifted into the air. According to reports, tests of anti-satellite systems continued until the mid-nineties and ended in connection with problems of an economic nature. Accurate information about the missile tests 79M6 absent. Perhaps it was possible to lift it into the air, but information on this has not yet been published. The project "Contact" did not give the desired results and did not lead to the beginning of the duty of new means of anti-space defense. However, it allowed for a number of important tests and determine the prospects of such weapons.
In 2009, Air Force Commander Colonel-General Alexander Zelin made a curious statement. He recalled the MiG-31D project - the carrier of anti-satellite weapons based on a serial interceptor. At the same time, he noted that at that time it was planned to “reanimate” the old project to solve new problems. However, over the years, new information on this subject did not appear. In addition, some sources mentioned that such work was carried out not for the resumption of work on the subject of “Contact”, but in the interests of other projects.
The fact that our country has a large number of developments and, possibly, certain successes in the creation of aviation complexes with anti-satellite armaments may to some extent reveal the recent statements by the RAC "MiG" leadership about the new capabilities of the PAK DP aircraft. It is quite possible that the claimed “work in space” will be connected precisely with the use of modern analogs of the older 30P6 “Contact” complex with the 79М6 guided missile. The use of modern developments and technologies is likely to improve the basic technical and combat characteristics of such weapons.
MiG-31D during the test. Photo Airwar.ru
However, all this - only assumptions. The management of the company, in a proactive manner, working on the project of the “Perspective Long-Range Aviation Complex”, revealed some of its plans, but is not in a hurry to share details. The VKS command, in turn, has not yet commented on the statements of representatives of the RAC "MiG". Thus, at the moment, the possibility of using the future of the MiG-41 aircraft as a carrier of an anti-satellite rocket remains at the level of assumptions or topics for disputes among specialists and amateurs of military equipment.
additional benefits
However, the use of a new aircraft to intercept trans-atmospheric targets can most significantly increase the combat capability of aerospace forces, and also to some extent simplify the organization of echeloned defense. Other ways to build capacity of the interceptor park will be the use of so-called. stealth technology and the possible creation of an unmanned aircraft modification.
It should be noted that certain methods of reducing the visibility of the aircraft for the detection of the enemy have already been used in recent domestic projects of aviation technology. The development of existing ideas continues and it can be assumed that the future PAK DP aircraft in this regard will be at least as good as the existing samples.
The proposal to create an unmanned modification of the interceptor is also of some interest both to potential customers and to the general public. At present, in our country and abroad, the issue of creating drones heavy class, capable of replacing full-fledged aircraft. The new PAK DP program has every chance of getting a similar development and leading to the emergence of equipment with unusual capabilities. Nevertheless, a heavy UAV will be developed only on the basis of a finished aircraft, which in a certain way shifts the timing of its appearance.
***
According to the latest data, the Russian Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation “MiG”, which proactively develops its own version of the “Perspective Long Range Interception Aviation Complex”, continues to shape the appearance of the car with a working designation MiG-41 and, among other things, offers the most daring ideas. In addition to the already known information, it was recently announced the desire to create a complex capable of operating in space, as well as an unmanned version of an interceptor.
However, the MiG-41 project has not yet received customer support and is still being created at the initiative of the developer company. Thus, the proposed version of the long-range interceptor - even with certain advantages and radically new possibilities - may not leave the preliminary study stage. The development work on the PAK DP theme is expected to start only in 2019, and by this time the Ministry of Defense will have to select the new order executor. Whether RSK MiG will succeed in obtaining an order for developing a new aircraft and embodying the most daring ideas in the project will be shown in time.
On the materials of the sites:
http://tvzvezda.ru/
http://tass.ru/
http://ria.ru/
https://aex.ru/
http://testpilot.ru/
http://ariwar.ru/
http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-699.html
Information