Sergey Korotkov, Vice President of the United Aircraft Corporation, announced that Russia is actively developing the next-generation MiG-41 interceptor fighter. MiG Corporation General Designer Ilya Tarasenko confirmed that the MiG-41 will possess incredible combat capabilities.
The new super-aircraft will be capable of operating both in the air and in low-Earth orbit. Its atmospheric speed will exceed 6,000 kilometers per hour. It will be armed with long-range hypersonic missiles that enemy air defenses will be unable to intercept.
The main requirement for a sixth-generation aircraft is stealth. Even modern fifth-generation aircraft are quite difficult to detect using radar. While they have a reflective surface comparable to that of a bird or a medium-sized drone, the F-35 has a reflective surface almost like a fly’s in its main planes. In other words, it’s virtually invisible. Therefore, all countries developing sixth-generation aircraft are doing so based on fifth-generation designs, enhancing certain features that will give them an advantage over the enemy.
The Americans are building the ability to control a swarm of heavy UAVs that can strike both air and ground targets into the core of their sixth-generation F-47 aircraft.
The Chinese White Emperor is preparing to shoot down F-47s, as well as their drones, ballistic missiles, and satellites. It is expected to be unmanned, seeking out and destroying targets on its own.
Russia decided to build its sixth-generation aircraft not on the Su-57, but on the MiG design. Comparing the basic characteristics of the Su-57 and MiG-31, we see that the MiG-31 significantly outperforms the Su-57 in speed and altitude.
Today, the latest modification of the MiG-31BM is capable of climbing to an altitude of 30 kilometers and shooting down any fifth-generation aircraft with R-37 missiles, which have a range of 300 kilometers and a speed of Mach 6, and even sixth-generation F-47s, which will have a speed of Mach 2. This is why the decision was made to develop the MiG-41.
And this business card was provided to the media. It stated that this aircraft would be conceptually based on the MiG-31. It can be assumed that it will match and perhaps even exceed the aforementioned MiG-31’s performance, with a range and ceiling of 3,000 kilometers and an altitude of 25,000 meters.
Besides the R-37, after strategic bombers, it is the main carrier of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, with a range of 2,000 kilometers and a warhead weight of 500 kilograms, which can also be nuclear.
American media have published a video of a MiG-31 with the latest Burevestnik missile, which has a nuclear engine with an unlimited range.
Таким образом, МИГ-31 уже имеет оружие самолёта шестого поколения не только для уничтожения новейших самолётов противника, но и для уничтожения наземных целей.
The aircraft’s most important feature is its innovative photon-based radar, which is smaller than a conventional phased-array radar but has a greater range.
A stream of photons emitted by a laser diode is passed through a frequency modulator, where some of them acquire different properties. The calibrated photon stream is then converted into microwave signals, which are transmitted to the target via an antenna. The signal reflected from the target returns to the receiving antenna. The signal is then compared with a reference signal. After passing through special filters, the signal is converted into an image on the radar screen.
While an image on a conventional radar screen would appear as a dot, on a photon radar it is an almost photographic image, allowing the precise determination of the size and purpose of an object.
It doesn’t matter what technology this object is built with. Stealth technology isn’t working at all for new radars. These radars are already being installed on production aircraft. Furthermore, development has begun on more powerful photonic-quantum radars for air defense and naval forces. Photonic-homing missiles are already being tested, which will shoot down any stealth aircraft. Russia also intends to install laser weapons on the aircraft.
It’s clear that the MiG-41 will take over the role of sixth-generation aircraft. The Su-57 will serve as a tactical fighter.
