Twenty years ago, a fifth-generation experimental fighter MiG-1,44 was tested

From the day when the leadership of the ANPK (RSK), Mig presented the first, experienced copy of a multifunctional front-line fighter (IFI), which received the MiG-1,42 cipher, hereafter MiG-1,44, twenty years passed. That presentation was the most striking event in the domestic aviation 1990-x - 2000-s. The fact is that during mass production, having received the MiG-35 index, it became the prototype of the fifth generation fighter.

The plane was shown to the first persons of the state by the hero of the Russian Federation, test pilot Vladimir Gorbunov. The demonstration itself was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, its 60 anniversary.

Further events began to develop rapidly. The first flight of the aircraft took place on 29 February 2000 of the year. Only eighteen minutes was in the air that experienced MiG. But during this time he climbed a thousand meters, made two laps over the airfield, flying at speeds up to 600 kilometers per hour, and then made a soft landing.

Vladimir Gorbunov, who piloted the aircraft, noted that the first flight, which everyone was waiting for, was successful, even just calmly, routinely. But still, this is a new car, "work on which is still to come."

In 2002, work on that project was stopped. The only car is stored in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, like other cars that have become exhibits of domestic aviation.

The 1.44 MiG is a single-seater monoplane with a “Duck” scheme (two-fin plumage). Its length is 20 meters, wingspan - 15 meters, maximum take-off weight - 30 tons. A significant part of the structural elements made of polymer composites and carbon fiber. Their share in the design was 30 percent.

Among the novelties of the project is a significant share of the use of aluminum-lithium alloys in the construction, which are notable for their lightness and durability. Their weight share is 35 percent. Steel and titanium elements are 30 percent of total weight. The remaining 5 percent comes from steel, rubber and other materials.

The power plant of the aircraft was supposed to be an engine with a controlled thrust vector AL-41F. It was developed by the designers of NPO Saturn. This engine, being a high-temperature, turbojet dual-circuit installation, has an afterburner chamber. Its development was launched in 1982.

The power plant was successful. She provided the aircraft with the achievement of supersonic speed without afterburner. The maximum speed that the aircraft should have had a ball is defined in Mach 2,6, cruising speed is about Mach 1,4. A modern on-board radar with an active phased antenna array and an electro-radio digital control system was to be installed on the machine.

The aircraft had a ventral air intake, divided into two sections. Each provided one of the engines. This location of the air intake, provided a high maneuverability characteristics, allowing the MiG to avoid disruption of the flow during maneuvering and exits to high angles of attack.

The plane was faintly visible by radars. This was ensured by the arrangement and the radio-absorbing coating of its surface.

The MiG, called a completely new aircraft, is almost perfect, but its path to the first flight was long. They began to design a new front-line fighter back in the USSR, at the end of the 70s. The requirements for the car were as follows: versatility, stealth, super-maneuverability, the ability to have a cruising supersonic speed. The first features of the future car appeared in the early 1980s.

The stated requirements for the new car were the requirements for the fifth generation aircraft. It was created at the same time, in which similar machines began to be created in the West, first of all, in the USA.