A Mig-29K Practices Carrier Takeoffs on a Ski Jump

Turn off the sound.

MiG 1.44 Prototype to be Shown at MAKS?

Russia’s enormous International Aviation and Space Show, otherwise known as MAKS, takes place every other year and is one of the top aerospace spectacles and military gear expos in the world. The show will kick off on August 25th, and will be the first MAKS since Russia invaded Crimea a year and a half ago. As such, we can be assured that there will be some pretty awesome displays meant to showcase Russia’s military exports, intimidate its peer state competitors, and levitate nationalist sentiments. Apparently, this will include the display of the long-defunct MiG 1.44 fighter demonstrator, an enigmatic aircraft that has long captured the minds of military aviation aficionados.

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This was too cool to skip.  lol.  Broke my own rules on the first day.  However, let's turn this into a real post.   

Its obvious, now, from the pictures above a lot of online Russophiles were full of it when it came to the 1.44.  Its plainly NOT a stealth aircraft.  Those inlets alone!  ouch!  If anything it looks like Mikoyan took the Eurofighter design and Russianed the sh*t out of it.  Its plainly not an F-22 killer.  You can easily see why the Russian Air Force moved on to the PAK-FA design.  

Amusingly, I have seen that design before.  And I don't mean in fleeting picture online sort of way.

In ~1988 (!), there was an article called 'MiG 2000' which had an aircraft which was the spitting image of the above.  So much so, I really want to find the article again.  The inlets and canards were the most strikingly similar parts as I recall.  However, its almost been 30 (OMG!) years.

MiG-31 Replacement to Start in 2017?

Russia will start developing a replacement for its MiG-31 "Foxhound" interceptors in 2017, Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, commander of the Russian Air Force, said.

“From 2017 we will start working on a new long-range interceptor to replace MiG-31,” he said.

According to the official, the new aircraft is to enter service in 2025.

Bondarev said last year that the Russian Air Force is hoping to receive a new long-range fighter-interceptor by 2020 and retire its existing fleet of at least 122 MiG-31 interceptors by 2028.

The MiG-31 is a long-range supersonic interceptor. The two-seater aircraft can intercept targets up to 124 miles (200 kilometers) away thanks to its advanced radar and long-range missiles. It can operate efficiently in all weather conditions and is equipped with state-of-the-art digital avionics.

The MiG-31 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1981. Production of the aircraft ended in 1994 but MiG-31 jets remain in service in the Russian and Kazakh air forces.

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Spin for Rogozin's stupid comments before?

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin Suggests Restarting Almost 40 Year Old Fighter (MiG-31)

The production of MiG-31 interceptor aircraft should resume, as they could prove effective for another 15 years, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Friday.

“The aircraft had no rivals. That was the opinion of the Military-Industrial Commission, the Defense Ministry, the industry on the whole and even the State Duma, which used to hold special hearings on the subject of the interceptor. The production should be revived, as the jet is being upgraded. This fighter will certainly be effective for another 15 years, with its various modifications that are up to today’s military requirements,” Rogozin said.

The deputy prime minister went on to say that he believed the aircraft had big export potential and expected high demand for the MiG-31.

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Jane's: Mikoyan's Quietly Working on a Single Engine Stealth Fighter

Russian aircraft manufacturer RSK-MiG seems to be quietly at work developing a new, lightweight fighter concept that could be a single-engine, lower-tier complement to the Sukhoi T-50/PAK-FA fighter currently in developmental flight testing.

Discussions about this MiG project have been around for some time, but speculation about the programme's status was raised by an announcement at the end of December that the single, flying prototype of the MiG 1.44 fifth-generation Multirole Fighter (MFI) project will be put in "conservation storage at a hangar located at the Gromov Flight Research Institute [LII]", according to an official statement by MiG. Up to this point the aircraft had made only two flights, both of which were in 2000, and has been utilised since as a working model to support the development of the T-50 programme.

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Russian Navy Takes Delivery of First Four MiG-29K/KUB Multirole Naval Fighters

The Russian navy has taken delivery of its first four series-produced MiG-29K/KUB carrier based fighter jets, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

“The MiG aircraft-manufacturing corporation has handed over two MiG-29K single-seat and two MiG-29KUB twin-seat carrier-based fighter aircraft,” a spokesman said.

The Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with MiG in February 2012 for delivery of 20 MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB fighters by 2015.

The aircraft will be deployed on Russia’s sole serving carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, based in Murmansk with the Northern Fleet. The Admiral Kuznetsov currently operates Sukhoi Su-33 naval fighter aircraft.

The MiG-29K is a naval variant of the MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jet, and has folding wings, an arrester tail-hook, strengthened airframe and multirole capability thanks to its Zhuk-ME slotted array radar, MiG says.

Unlike the Su-33, which is capable of air defense missions only, the MiG-29K can be armed with a wide variety of air-to-surface as well as air-to-air weaponry and laser-designation systems.

The aircraft is also capable of “buddy” refueling other MiG-29Ks using the PAZ-1MK refueling pod.

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