MiG 1.44 really is back from the "dead"

By: Vympel - 18th June 2004 at 08:22

Big article

RSK MiG Resumes Work on Project 1.44

By 2008, the corporation's orders on hand will be 6 million dollars

RSK MiG management received a delegation of State Duma deputies on 10 June. The corporation's general director, Valeriy Toryanin, and deputy director of the RSK MiG Engineering Center, Andrey Karasev, gave a presentation on the enterprise for the legislators, and also displayed the shop for experimental production to them.

Included in the delegation were the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Defense, Aleksey Sigutkin, the chairman of the Expert Council on Questions of Aviation and Cosmonautics and member of the State Duma Committee on Industry, Construction and High Technology, Aleksandr Belousov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee n Industry, Construction and High Technology, Yuriy Savel'ev, and deputy chair of the State Duma Defense Committee, Svetlana Savitskaya. ((Savitskaya is a former pilot who has set world-class records for women in various aircraft.)) According to Aleksey Sigutkin, the deputies visited RSK MiG in order to have a real concept of the enterprise's condition. In the near future it is planned to undertake another series of excursions around the design bureaus and plants of the aircraft building industry.

Appearing before the deputies, the RSK MiG general director Valeriy Toryanin noted that recently, after the change of the corporation's management, definite progress in its development is being observed. In particular, the orders on hand for the year has increased from 1.4 to 2.6 billion dollars, and by 2008, it is intended to extend it to 6 billion dollars. There are all the prerequisites for it. The corporation has new developments and upgrade variants of previously manufactured aircraft which are of interest to foreign customers. "Ever newer and newer customers appear with every day who wish to buy new modifications of the MiG-29 fighter," Valeriy Toryanin noted. The right of independent export of its product and also a significant production potential are enabling RSK MiG's firm position in the marketplace. The enterprises included in the corporation are providing a full cycle of an airplane's life - from development to utilization. RSK MiG's capabilities allow the execution of practically any contract. The corporation's production facilities are estimated for the production of 200 MiG-29 type fighters a year. As of today, the are at approximately 35% of capacity.

The deputy director of the RSK MiG Engineering Center, Andrey Karasev, named as most prospective for Russian and foreign air forces such RSK MiG aircraft as the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB and the MiG-29SM and MiG-29SMT fighters produced earlier are being upgraded to this level, the MiG-29M/M2 are completely new and the most modern airplanes of the family, which will be delivered to customers from 2005-2006, and also the MiG-AT new generation combat training airplane and MiG-31 interceptor, experimental design work on its completion is being performed in the interests of the Russian Federation air force.

Work also is not stopping at the MiG firm on the fifth generation fighter. As Andrey Karasev declared, "three weeks ago the general director of our corporation adopted a decision regarding the unfolding of further work on the 1.44 airplane." In the opinion of the Engineering Center's deputy director, the realization of this project will be less costly and simpler for Russia than the creation of a new fighter, inasmuch as all technical developments on the 1.44 airplane connected with the engine, aerodynamics, and primary airplane systems have not gone out of date. Only the avionics need be substituted, which have been developing rapidly in recent years. According to Andrey Karasev, a task to resume tests of the 1.44 airplane before the end of 2004 has been delivered to the Engineering Center. In Andrey Karasev's opinion, the circumstance, that the idea of heavy fighter has been chosen as fundamental for the Russian air force, should not nullify the great amount of work carried out at the MiG firm on the creation of a fifth generation airplane.

State Duma deputies examined the experimental production shop and the static tests hall with great interest. As Aleksey Sigutkin noted, RSK MiG is operating in the complex conditions of a tough competitive struggle, but at the same time it is noted that the corporation is picking up steam. "There are problems, however, management sees how to resolve them."

Aleksandr Belousov, who also heads the expert council on questions of aviation and cosmonautics, noted that the level of equipping the Russian air force is causing anxiety against the background of RSK MiG's successful activity in the area of military and technical cooperation. In his opinion, "aircraft should be created which are a generation above those that go for export." By all appearances, it is necessary for the elected representatives of the people to work in this direction too. You see, according to Aleksandr Belousov, "without the creation of a complete legislative base, it simply is not possible for say that Russia will recover for itself the laurels of a great aviation power".

Source: 17.06.04, Voenno-Promyshlennyy Kur'er

As you can see, the interest is for the VVS, not a foreign country.

I must admit, simply because I know what the MiG 'MFI' was to look like (similar to the 1.44, with some modifications ... right?) in contrast to the unseen PAK FA, I'm pretty excited.