Performance
Estimated performance specifications have placed the 1.42's top speed in the range of Mach 2.6, or 1,716 miles per hour, with use of afterburn (a "supercruise" function is thought to be part of the engines power - supercruise allows supersonic flight without use of the fuel-thirsty afterburner). Range is reportedly out to 2,500 miles with an impressive service ceiling equivalent to 70,720 feet. The Lyulka-Saturn engines were known to have powered a modified Tupolev Tu-16 "Badger" and Mikoyan MiG-25 "Foxbat" during evaluation and were found to provide for better range when compared to the Sukhoi Flanker series the MiG 1.42 was meant to replace.
Armament
Despite reports that the MiG 1.42 made use of internal weapons bays, the demonstrator was showcased with external weapons pylons. The standard internal weapon fitting was a single 30mm Izhmash GSh-301 series cannon for close-in self-defense. It is suspected that the MiG-1.42, had it entered production, would have made use of the standard array of air-to-air/air-to-ground missiles (radar- and IR-guided) as well as conventional drop ordnance found throughout the Russian Air Force inventory.
Further Development
Already some four years behind schedule, taxi trials were completed with the 1.44 airframe sometime in 1994 at Zhukosky. However, the general overall cost of the program versus dwindling Russian defense funds following the collapse of the Soviet Union endangered the MiG 1.42 project in whole. A reportedly high-per-unit cost eventually did the aircraft in with the Russian government pulling the plug on the MiG 1.42 during 1997. Development continued along limited fronts for a time and the follow-up 1.44 aerodynamic airframe was officially unveiled in January of 1999 with a first flight expected in February of that year. However, more delays in the program pushed this monumental event further with first flight not achieved until February 29th, 2000. This was followed up by at least two further reported test flights occurring in 2001.
The MiG 1.42 and the PAK FA
Of course Russian officials were quick to note the type's excellence over that of the American F-22. However, while the 1.42 has been languishing sorely for the last decade, the F-22 has already entered production service with the United States Air Force as its first Fifth Generation mount with the F-35 soon to follow. The Russians continue to play catch up in a Fifth Generation fighter development with their upcoming Sukhoi PAK FA (Prospective Air Complex - Frontal Aviation), a development more in line with perhaps the multirole-minded Lockheed F-35 Lightning II. The PAK FA (now expected to replace both the MiG-29 and the Su-27 series) has now evolved to become a joint development effort between Russian and India. The initial PAK FA prototype first flew in early 2010. The joint development effort (essentially spawning a derivative of the PAK FA for Indian service) is known under the designation of FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) and involves both Sukhoi of Russia and HAL of India. An agreement between the two parties was signed in 2001. It is believed that the MiG 1.42/1.44 has been used as a data collection platform for the PAK FA program and similar powerplants found on the former are said to power the latter.
The MiG-35 Designation
The MiG 1.42/1.44/MFI was once designated as the "MiG-35". This designation has since been removed from the project and assigned to a newer (and wholly unrelated) version of the Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum".
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