Russia's ambitious MiG‑41 project: Revolutionary or out of reach?

If you believed Russian propaganda, the MiG design bureau is just finishing work on the revolutionary MiG-41 aircraft. The declared capabilities of this machine sound impressive, as well as the planned pace of its implementation into service. What is known about the Russian new generation aircraft and whether its implementation is indeed possible?

Many pieces of information provided by Russian media or representatives of authority are elements of propaganda. Such reports are part of the information war conducted by the Russian Federation.

The MiG-41 is being built to replace the MiG-31 aircraft. These are heavy intercept fighters developed during the Cold War with the defense of the USSR's northern and eastern borders in mind. Due to their specific purpose, these aircraft stand out with their considerable sizes, high speed, and autonomy in relation to ground infrastructure.

Modernisation works carried out after the dissolution of the USSR have transformed this machine – in the MiG-31K variant – into an offensive weapon, capable of carrying, among others, Kinzhal Kh-47M2 missiles. Currently conducted modernisations and repairs are intended to keep these aircraft in service until 2035.

This date also marks the time horizon by which Russia should have a new generation aircraft capable of defending the vast spaces in the north and east of the country.

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Fragmentary information that has appeared in Russian sources over the years allows us to build an image of what the MiG-41 – in the creators' intention – is supposed to be. Despite very limited data, the machine – at least in declarations – looks interesting.

The MiG-41 is considered a very distant successor to Project 70.1 – a fighter, which according to Russians, was to be capable of intercepting the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft. The machine is supposed to be very fast – various sources indicate a speed from Mach 3 to even Mach 5 (from about 3,500 km/h to about 5,800 km/h). Its propulsion is to be provided by a new, as yet unspecified engine (with potential solutions including engines from the Su-57).

The MiG-41's armament should allow for combating not only aircraft but also hypersonic targets, as well as space objects located on low orbits. The aircraft is supposed to be capable of reaching a very high altitude of even 40,000 metres and have a very long range (the machine's range is supposed to be up to 7,000 km).

At the same time, the MiG-41 is supposed to be both a platform for hypersonic weapons and its hunter – it will destroy flying missiles and their carriers.

Onboard, depending on the source, a combat laser or electromagnetic cannon should be found. And all this behind the veil of stealth technology and solutions defining the new aircraft as a 6th generation machine.

Among the revolutionary ideas mentioned by Russians, the intention to use thermal energy generated during high-speed flights to power onboard electronics or energy weapons stands out. It's worth mentioning that, for example, the Blackbird flying at high speed heated up in some places due to air resistance to even 480 degrees Celsius.

In practice – if all the announcements were to be fulfilled – the MiG would constitute the equivalent of the pop-cultural Death Star. Therefore, the announcements of the Russians should be treated with a great deal of scepticism – especially since their aviation industry is increasingly feeling the lack of skilled workforce, and the most famous designers are dying over the years without training their successors.

The likelihood of the Russian industry overcoming all the technical challenges associated with the MiG-41 was discussed by WP journalist, Karolina Modzelewska.

Independently of that, work on the project named PAK DP (MiG-41 is the unofficial name, though used by Russians) is a fact. Among the likely solutions that – perhaps – will one day be used in the MiG-41, the most interesting seems to be the propulsion in the form of a pulse detonation engine (PDE).

It is a propulsion system of very high efficiency (it is estimated that its widespread use in aviation would cause a 75 percent decrease in fuel consumption), while also capable of operating across a very wide range of speeds – from subsonic speeds to about Mach 5.

Although work on this propulsion is carried out worldwide, and in 2008 an experimental flight of a drone powered by such an engine was conducted (the engine worked for 10 seconds), so far no one has managed to build a PDE engine that could be applied in practice.

Officially, work on the MiG-41 was revealed in 2013. In 2020, a prototype of the aircraft was supposed to take to the skies, and the first serial machines were to enter service in 2025. The new schedule anticipates operational readiness of the machine around 2030.

Russians don't have much choice in this matter. Without heavy intercept fighters, Moscow could lose the ability to control part of its own airspace within just a decade.

MiG-31s have not been produced for 30 years, and the production of engines for these aircraft has also been halted, and the accumulated stocks – as noted among others by the Russian newspaper "Izvestia" – are quickly depleting. In the case of the MiG-41, the stake is therefore not so much to build a revolutionary design as to provide the air forces with an aircraft capable of maintaining the capabilities that Russia currently possesses. Time is ticking.