It is unlikely that the Russian fifth-generation fighter, which is being worked on in the MiG design bureau (KB) (is in the process of merging with Sukhoi), will make its first flight by 2025, said the American edition of The National Interest.
"Is the Russian secret MiG-41 stealth fighter real?" the publication asks, doubting that this aircraft will replace the MiG-31 even by the end of this decade.
The magazine writes that reports about the beginning of work "MiG" on the creation of a fifth-generation fighter began to appear a few years ago. The publication notes that, according to the plans of the Design Bureau and press reports, the new aircraft will be unobtrusive and capable of developing a speed close to hypersonic.
"The Russian aerospace sector may just be busy with a host of other projects, including the development of the [current Russian fifth-generation fighter] Su-57 and the modernization of aging bombers," the magazine writes.
In February, military expert Peter Butovsky, in the pages of the American magazine Aviation Week & Space Technology , said that Russia is not able to independently create a promising long-range interception aircraft complex (PAK DP), known as the MiG-41.
Thus, the expert commented The January statement of Rostec about the launch of the development process of a new-generation fighter-interceptor.
In December 2017, the chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, former commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Viktor Bondarev said that the MiG-41 will be able to fight hypersonic missiles and will be the world's fastest machine of this class.
Ivan Potapov