The MiG-41 Fighter Failure: Soviet air forces were divided into two service branches. There was the regular Air Force, or VVS, and the Air Defense Forces, abbreviated as PVO. The services were later combined into a unified service, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS).
The PVO’s function was to keep the homeland safe, and the last Soviet aircraft designed specifically for that mission was the Mikoyan MiG-31, one of the longest-ranged and fastest interceptor aircraft of its time. More than 500 of this type were produced at the Sokol Aircraft Plant in Nizhni Novgorod.
MiG-41 Fighter Artist Concept. Image: Creative Commons.
The Mikoyan Design Bureau had close relations with the PVO for many years. Before the MiG-31, the bureau designed its predecessor model, the MiG-25.
One of the bureau’s senior engineers explained many years ago that one of the chief justifications for the MiG-31 was to give the PVO an aircraft designed primarily for them.
“Just as your U.S. Navy does not want to buy a fighter designed initially for the USAF, the Soviet PVO did not want to buy only the Su-27, which was built for the Soviet Air Force (VVS),” the engineer said during one of the Moscow Air Show expos.
Continuing The Mission
The PVO no longer exists, but its mission, and the MiG-31, carries on, as does the requirement for an aircraft that can fire on incoming aircraft or cruise missiles at extended ranges.
In the meantime, the MiG-31 has acquired another mission besides long-range interceptor. In 2018, Russia modified 10 of the aircraft into MiG-31K theater ballistic-missile carriers. These highly modified aircraft can carry one Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile on their centerline stations.
As a Russian-language article explains, “this missile can reach anywhere in Ukraine within minutes and is very difficult to intercept due to its high speed.”
The weapon has been used extensively in the Ukraine war, although recently the use of the Kinzhal has been curtailed.
MiG-41: The Next Generation
Since the 2000s, Russia has been working to develop a series of next-generation aircraft programs, all of which have a program name that begins with the acronym “PAK”, which in Russian means Perspektivniy Aviatsonnoi Kompleks, or “Perspective Aviation Platform.”
The PAK-FA, with the “FA” meaning “frontline aviation,” was an air superiority fighter, and it became the Su-57. The PAK-DA is “long range aviation” aircraft, meaning a new-generation bomber—one that is likely to never be built.
The least known is the PAK-DP, or “long range interceptor,” which is the name given to the MiG-31’s successor. This aircraft, given the designator MiG-41, is meant to be a sixth-generation stealth interceptor.
MiG-41 Artist Rendering. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
With the MiG-41, Mikoyan Design Bureau claims to be developing aircraft that can reach speeds up to Mach 4, which would make it one of the fastest military aircraft ever. The famous Russian experimental pilot Anatoliy Kvochur has been more specific, saying the MiG-41’s maximum speed could reach up to Mach 4.3.
The design is supposed to be stealthy, with advanced materials and Electronic Warfare technologies that dramatically reduce its radar cross-section. The aircraft, according to one of the Russian parliamentarians who sits on the defense committee, “will embody all the advantages of the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor jet.”
However, there are numerous skeptics who question both the performance numbers projected for the aircraft and the timeline for its entry into service.
MiG-41 Fighter Problems
One defense writer who spoke to Bulgarian Military pointed out that the MiG-41’s first flight was supposed to take place this year; yet there is no sign of the aircraft. Moreover, it is supposed to be in service by 2030, which hardly seems possible given the many shortcomings within the Russian defense-industrial sector.
The same writer also reminds the reader that “no nation has successfully created a [completely operational] 6th-generation aircraft, and only three countries—Russia, China, and the USA—have introduced 5th-generation platforms.”
MiG-41. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Moreover, the Russians have had myriad troubles producing their fifth-generation platforms, which have only been turned out in small numbers. Russia’s only fifth-generation propulsion system is the Su-57’s AL-51F, which seems unlikely to produce the Mach-4 speeds called for in the MiG-41’s design.
Specialists in Moscow who spoke to 19FortyFive said the MiG-41 is “somewhere between a fairy tale fantasy and a propaganda ploy.”
“This is what has been going on for years – designers coming to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and showing him drawings, some of which are not much better than cartoons. They then tell him some fictional tale about the wondrous properties of this weapon and how Russia will soon have enough of them to conquer the entire West. Then he repeats what he has been told in front a joint session of the Russian parliament.”
“This is the category the MiG-41 belongs in. It is an airplane that does not and never will exist. But it makes people at the top of the Russian government feel good when they pretend it is real.”
About the Author:
Reuben F. Johnson is a survivor of the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and is an Expert on Foreign Military Affairs with the Fundacja im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego in Warsaw. He has been a consultant to the Pentagon, several NATO governments and the Australian government in the fields of defense technology and weapon systems design. Over the past 30 years he has resided in and reported from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Brazil, the People’s Republic of China and Australia.
