Does Russia Need Another Fighter-Interceptor?
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
Russia’s MiG Aircraft Corporation is working on the MiG-41 fifth-generation fighter-interceptor. The fighter-interceptor is also known as the PAK DP DP (Prospective Aviation Complex of Long-Range Interception).
“No, this is not a mythical project, this is a long-standing project for the MiG and now we are carrying out intensive work under the aegis of the UAC [the United Aircraft Corporation] and will present it to the public soon,” the MiG CEO Ilya Tarasenko told tass.com.
The MiG-41 aircraft will eventually replace the MiG-31 interceptor.
The experimental design work on the PAK DP’s development was expected to start from 2018, as former Commander of Russia’s Aerospace Force, Chairman of the Federation Council Defense Committee Viktor Bondarev said.
MiG CEO Tarasenko said that the R&D and experimental design work on the cutting-edge Russian interceptor was planned to begin “in the immediate future” and its deliveries to the Russian Armed Forces were expected to start in the mid-2020s.
Aside from the manned version, the interceptor’s unpiloted variant is also being considered.
However, some doubts were pronounced by several experts. Justin Bronk, a combat-aviation expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told businessinsider.com: “I don’t hold out much hope for an even less proven design concept to make it into series production anytime soon.” “The Mig-31BM is already a highly capable interceptor platform and there are plans for a second modernization upgrade of what is a relatively new aircraft for a very specific Russian territorial defense requirement,” Bronk said.
Richard L. Aboulafia, Vice President of Analysis at Teal Group (market analysis), has evaluated that the announcement “keeps the idea alive, and you never know, even a chance in a 100 is better than no chance at all.”
He added that the idea of creating a pure next-generation interceptor is like “living in the past” since surface-to-air missiles “are generally a better way of intercepting things.”
