Su-57 is not the only fifth-generation fighter in Russia. As early as 1979, the Soviet Union started the development of a new generation of fighter jets. The purpose was to catch up with the latest future fighter of the United States. It was a single-engine, two-seater MiG. The 1.44 fighter, the Russian military believes that it is even better than the American F-22 Raptor fighter in performance indicators, and is the veritable first fifth-generation fighter in Soviet Russian history. The birth of the
MiG 1.44 fighter was developed by the Soviet Union and the United States competing with the fifth-generation fighter. In the 1980s and 1990s, both Lockheed Martin Corporation of the United States and Russia’s Mikoyan Design Bureau were world-renowned aircraft designers and manufacturers, but the F-22 fighters and MiG 1.44 fighters built by the two were ill-fated: The MiG 1.44 fighter jet had its only takeoff in 2000. In 2005, the US F-22 fighter jets formed the initial combat effectiveness. By April 2009, the US Department of Defense recommended to stop new orders and finally purchase 187 F-22 fighter jets. Now because of the F-35 problem, some people have suggested that the F-22 be re-launched, but the price of up to 250 million US dollars is prohibitive.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wanted to develop fighter jets to restrict the US Air Force and gain air superiority. The Mikoyan Design Bureau has designed many fighters with fierce combat effectiveness and powerful performance. For example, the MiG-15 fighter jets slammed American imperialist aircraft in the war, and the MiG-21 randomly beat American B-52 strategic bombers in the Vietnam War. F-105 fighter-bombers and F-4 Phantom fighters, these aerial arrows have written the legend of MiG fighters. Later, from MiG-23, MiG-29 and then to the fourth-generation MiG-31 "Foxhound" interceptor, the latter effectively defended the airspace security of Soviet border areas during the Cold War. The all-weather heavy fighters developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau are also very popular with the Soviet Air Defense, but the Sukhoi fighters have very few service, and the number of fighters built by the Mikoyan Design Bureau is much smaller. In the early 1980s, the Mikoyan Design Bureau began to develop the fifth-generation fighter.
In 1984, the former Soviet Union began to use the fourth-generation fighter Su-27 and MiG-29 extensively, and at the same time carried out the work of the fifth-generation fighter. The fifth-generation fighter has super-maneuverability, can fly at supersonic speeds without afterburner, and hides from radar and infrared (stealth). The MiG 1.44 has a length of 19 meters, a wingspan of 15 meters, a height of 4.5 meters, an empty weight of 18 tons, and a maximum take-off weight of 35 tons. The AL-41F engine used has also been used in the 4++ generation fighter Su-35S and even The fifth-generation fighter Su-57 was developed by Lulica Saturn on the basis of AL-31F and AL-37 engines. The maximum speed of MiG 1.44 reaches Mach 2.35. It adopts a duck layout and a built-in magazine for enhanced mobility.
Mikoyan Design Bureau positioned the MiG 1.44 as a highly maneuverable fighter with a certain stealth capability. However, the MiG 1.44 does not have any stealth design on the shape of the fuselage, and there is no built-in bomb bay. It uses a fuselage semi-buried pylon. In addition, the details are relatively rough. The front radar cross section is roughly 2-5 square meters. The stealth performance is too weak compared to the F-22 radar cross section of 0.001 square meters. There have been rumors in
that the Mikoyan Design Bureau hoped to use the black technology of science fiction-plasma stealth technology to provide stealth effects for the MiG 1.44 fighter. However, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the stagnation of the Russian aviation industry, this legendary high-tech has also failed. Plasma stealth was once the most dazzling star among many Soviet military science and technology "myths". During the Soviet era, the plasma stealth system was developed by the Keldersh Research Center. The development of overall plasma stealth for Russian aircraft stopped more than ten years ago.
Due to the high cost of heavy fighter Su-27 and light fighter MiG-29, the Soviet Union requires the fifth-generation fighter to reduce the cost of research and development. It is reported that in order to reduce the research and development costs of the F-15 and F-16 fighters, the two fighters use many of the same technologies and equipment. The Soviet Union began to build a super fighter prototype in 1988. If it succeeds, then the MiG 1.44 is the world's first fifth-generation fighter, much earlier than the American F-22 Raptor. However, in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed and fiscal austerity, the first flight of the MiG 1.44 fighter was shelved. Russia continues to carry out the MiG-1.44 battle after the collapse of the Soviet UnionHowever, the Russian economy plummeted by 40% and hyperinflation occurred. Therefore, Russia gave priority to upgrading Su-27 heavy fighters and developing more advanced Su-30 fighters. Subsequently, the Russian Ministry of Defense also exported the Su-27 and Su-30 to China.
However, the American F-22 fighter jets gave the Russian Air Force a strong anxiety, so the MiG 1.44 fighter was "reborn" again. In 1994, the design code 1.42 of the technical verification machine based on the MiG 1.44 was finally completed. Due to lack of funds, the project was extended indefinitely and had to be grounded again. In short, the Russian government was too poor. On February 23, 2000, after a long and painful suffering, the MiG-1.44 fighter entered the first flight stage, but the MiG 1.44 gradually faded out of public view.
Although the stealth capability of the MiG 1.44 fighter is obviously not as good as the F-22A, F-35, and F-20 stealth fighters, the MiG 1.44 fighter is also developed in accordance with some standards of the fifth-generation fighter. Compared with the Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters that were heavily equipped by the Soviet Union at that time, the performance improvement of the MiG 1.44 fighter was very obvious, enough to make it the next generation fighter. However, when compared with the American F-22A stealth fighter, the MiG 1.44 fighter is at a disadvantage except for its mobility. Later, as the importance of stealth in the fifth-generation fighter aircraft became more and more prominent, in the end, the MiG 1.44 fighter, a half-hanging stealth fighter, was ruthlessly abandoned by the Russian Air Force.
