PAK DP prospective long-range interceptor

Would the mig-41 be able to generate a plasma stealth field?

RUSSIA IS DEVELOPING AN INTERCEPTOR FOR THE DEMOLITION OF A US SATELLITE CONSTELLATION
January 31, 2021

It will soon be unsafe for US military intelligence satellites to hover over Russian territory.

The state corporation “Rostec” on January 22nd 2021, in its publication, literally reported the following: “The development of the next generation of fighter jets/interceptors has already begun. The project of a promising long-range intercept aircraft complex (PAK DP) is at the stage of development work.”

This article was published just in time for the holiday – the Day of Aviation of the Russian Air Defense Forces and was devoted to the modernisation of the MiG-31 interceptor fighter to the MiG-31BM version.

After the announcement of further work on the PAK DP project, a number of publications appeared in the Russian press that questioned the need for this development, since the interception tasks can be assigned to the fighters already in service, and the funds allocated for the PAK DP project can be redistributed to other, more urgent purposes.

Let’s try to understand this issue. To date, the tasks of intercepting and destroying various air targets (bombers, cruise missiles, reconnaissance aircraft, refueling aircraft and fighters) in any conditions and at any altitude are worked on by the MiG-31 supersonic all-weather long-range interceptor fighter. The MiG-31 can destroy even low-flying satellite objects.

This jet was adopted in 1981 and was produced until 1994. A total of 519 aircraft of various modifications were produced.

Since 2008, there has been an active process of upgrading the MiG-31 to the MiG-31BM version, which should be completed by 2023. 114 combat vehicles will be updated. Thanks to the new Zaslon-AM radar, the aircraft can detect air targets at a range of up to 320 kilometres and hit them at a range of up to 280 kilometres. It became possible to simultaneously track up to 10 targets and hit 6 targets with missiles.

Importantly, in the MiG-31BM version, the aircraft has turned into a multifunctional combat vehicle. It can interact with anti-aircraft missile systems of air defences, as well as direct guided missiles at air targets from other fighter jets that are approaching the enemy at the range of destruction by missile weapons in a radar silence mode. In addition, the MiG-31BM is able to play the role of a kind of air command post for coordinating the actions of other types of fighter jets whose radars have less power.

Due to the modernisation of avionics and weapons, the effectiveness of the MiG-31BM compared to the MiG-31 increased by 2.6-fold, but, according to experts, this modernisation potential of the system is actually exhausted. The designers believe that the upgrade to the MiG-31BM version will increase the service life of the aircraft by 10 years.

Thus, the MiG-31BM will be able to operate until 2033. It turns out that until this time, the troops should receive a new combat vehicle capable of solving long-range interception tasks, with higher flight and combat characteristics.

The most optimal solution is the project of a promising long-range interception aircraft complex (PAK DP). Of course, the designers do not disclose all the details of this development. But still, bit by bit in the open press, one can collect information and come to certain conclusions based on it.

What’s very important for the PAK DP project is that the aircraft will not be created from scratch, but on the basis of the MiG-31. We remind you that 519 MiG-31 aircraft of various modifications were produced. This fighter jet/interceptor has a body made of titanium alloy, the resource of which is almost inexhaustible. Conclusion: the MiG-31 airframe will be the basis for the PAK DP.

Thus, the question arises about the appropriate modern contents of the new fighter jet/interceptor. We believe that the PAK DP should receive a new generation radar – a radiophoton radar with a high level of efficiency. The efficiency of a radiophoton radar is estimated at 70%, and conventional radars have an efficiency of no more than 40%.

It is obvious that the PAK DP will receive an electro-remote control system instead of a cable control system. The jet will become more manoeuvrable. In addition, this will be a step towards the unmanned version of the PAK DP.

Of course, the new fighter jet/interceptor will be equipped with new or improved engines. Only they will be able to provide it with a speed of Mach 4.3 (more than 4500 km/h), and according to some sources – up to Mach 5.

It should be noted that the maximum permissible flight speed of the MiG-31BM reaches 3,400 km/h, which allows them to reach the launch line of cruise missiles by strategic enemy bombers in the shortest possible time. And for the PAK DA, this indicator will be higher by at least 30% – 4500 km/h.

The R-37M long-range air-to-air missile has a maximum range of 300 kilometers. The combat range of the MiG-31BM is 720 kilometers. With the R-37 missile, the MiG-31BM, taking into account its announced combat range, can hit an aerial target at a range of up to 1020 kilometres from the take-off airfield.

This significantly exceeds the range of ground-based air defence systems. For example, the range of the S-400 air defence system reaches 400 kilometres, and the S-500 “Prometey” air defence system – 600 kilometres. Thus, in a number of combat missions, ground-based air defence cannot replace a long-range fighter jet/interceptor due to the shorter range of destruction.

That is precisely why, at the end of its service life, the MiG-31BM should be replaced by a PAK DP that can quickly reach the desired area and use missile weapons on strategic bombers before they launch cruise missiles, and if necessary, hit the cruise missiles themselves.

The ability to reach high altitudes up to near space will allow PAK DA to work on satellites. The demolition of the enemy’s satellite grouping can deprive them of their eyes and ears, and lead to loss of control.

Front-line fighter jets are not able to work on long-range interception tasks, because their flight characteristics do not allow this: they do not have such a high speed and a large combat range. Therefore, we will not compare them with the MiG-31BM. But take the latest Russian fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57. Let’s compare the flight characteristics of the Su-57 fighter with the characteristics of the MiG-31BM interceptor.

The maximum speed of the Su-57 is 2600 km/h, and the MiG-31BM is 3400 km/h. The practical ceiling of the Su-57 is 20,000 meters, the MiG-31BM is 20,600 meters. The practical range of the Su-57 is in the range of 2000-4300 kilometres (depending on the flight mode), the average range of the Su-57 is 2700 kilometres, the MiG-31BM is 1450 kilometres.

Thus, the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet in terms of flight performance surpasses the long-standing MiG-31BM in only one parameter – flight range. With the PAK DP, this parameter will be significantly improved.

To date, the troops have received one Su-57. Until 2028, 76 combat vehicles of this brand should be in service. It is obvious that such a number of Su-57 aircraft will not be enough to work on tasks for the main purpose and to perform tasks for long-range interception.

The flight characteristics of the Su-57 and the estimated number of these aircraft in service suggest that our Armed Forces need a separate combat aircraft – a long-range fighter jet/interceptor.

According to “MiG”, the PAK DP will use new types of aircraft weapons, it will be created with the use of new stealth technologies, will be able to transport the necessary number of weapons and operate at a very large interception radius.

Thus, the need for the further work of “MiG” on the project of a promising long-range interception aircraft complex (PAK DP) is not in doubt. Using the MiG-31 fighter as the basis for development will not require a large amount of financial resources to complete this urgent task.

Aleksandr Vladimirov

https://www.stalkerzone.org/russia-is-developing-an-interceptor-for-the-demolition-of-a-us-satellite-constellation/

I also don't think it can be the same airframe if the requirements are so different. As to the time still in service for the MiG-31, what I have read is exactly the opposite from what the author says, that is, that the modernization potential of the platform is still there. Considering the time needed to develop and test a new plane, plus the time needed to produce enough numbers to substitute older models, I don't think the MiG-31 is going to leave service much before 2040, and in fact I see logic in both planes operating in parallel to a certain extent. A better radar + supercruising engines + MFRK-DP are the obvious elements that could increase substantially the capacity of the plane without needing to heavily modify the airframe, the first two would be just natural takeovers from the PAK-FA program.

Hey that is a very good link, not only about PAK-DP but also LMFS

GarryB wrote:The MiG-31 is currently doing a good job.

If the MiG-41 is entering service next year or the year after it wont and cant be that much better than the current MiG-31, so it is a rather good thing it is going to take a while.... it should be well worth the wait.

The comments in the article about the Russian economy and how its current state suggests it wont be able to afford a light stealth fighter are as boring as they are amusing.

It seems Piotr things there might be a flu pandemic every year for the next ten years to effect the Russian economy and prevent spending on new aircraft...

Seems to be the retardation quota you need to publish on Western media, but other than that the guy makes very good research of what has been published and is well connected. Definitely worth reading.

Nice piece on the PAK-DP:

https://redsamovar.com/2021/03/08/actu-pak-dp-le-prochain-intercepteur-russe/

This plane will be the roll out of the decade. I cannot wait to see what they come up with.

Probably been posted. But I like this evolutionary design. From the Mig 31

GarryB wrote:Obvious problem would be the swept wings... maybe if it is the 1970s then that would be OK or if they are swing wings and that shows them swept.

Since the MiG-29 and Su-27 they have not used swept wings...

Yeah the sweep looks like a bit much. I doubt they are swings. But they want to bring the top speed higher so maybe that's what they need. They will need the longest runways for take off and landing

Swing wings are too complicated but I wonder why they can't put on some retractable canards like the tu-144 had. Those aren't as complicated as swinging the main wing.

More on the potential of spin-detonation ramjets, which in my opinion is the likely leading candidate engine type to power the PAK-DP.

x_54_u43's original post on the subject:

x_54_u43 wrote:Air-breathing spin detonation ramjet, video of test and link to website.

https://fpi.gov.ru/projects/fiziko-tekhnicheskie-issledovaniya/detonatsionnyy-pvrd/




PS, lots of other VERY interesting projects on that website, from liquid breathing apparatuses to super polymers to new forms of 3d printing, ooh la la.

https://fpi.gov.ru/projects/fiziko-tekhnicheskie-issledovaniya/predel/

https://www.russiadefence.net/t2758p575-russia-us-and-other-developments-in-hypersonic-research#282397

The use of 'solid' fuel, aka a very dense gel of a high caloric liquid fuel in a detonating (non-deflagrating) ramjet engine:

“Complex of computational research, design and engineering and scientific work to ensure the creation of a universal workplace for conducting fire tests of solid-fuel ramjet engines on the basis of the C-17T stand of the CIAM experimental base - a branch of the CIAM Scientific Center "

The bottom threw images apparently were tests conducted on April 14th, 2015.

Also it looks like they're investigating the potential use of microwave ignition (of 'detonating' not deflagrating fuel) like we've seen on 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV's propellant stubs.

The possibilities of initiating combustion and detonation of a propane-air mixture by microwave discharges generated by a quasi-optical electromagnetic beam are considered. A comparison is made of initiation by different types of discharge - spark, streamer, and attached. The theory of the formation of streamer discharges is presented, the velocity of their propagation and the amount of supplied energy are analyzed. Experiments and calculations of the ignition of a propane-air mixture by various types of discharges have been carried out. It is shown that upon initiation of combustion by a streamer discharge, in comparison with a spark discharge equal in energy contribution, a multiple increase in the speed of propagation of the flame front and the completeness of fuel combustion was obtained. With pre-chamber initiation of combustion by igniting a streamer discharge on the inner walls of a quartz tube, a significant acceleration of combustion was obtained up to velocities characteristic for the transition of deflagration to detonation. The results can find application in the development of multi-site volumetric ignition systems in internal combustion engines, gas turbine engines, low-emission combustion chambers, for organizing combustion in a supersonic flow, as well as in combustion chambers of detonation engines.

























https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318470797_MATEMATICESKOE_I_KOMPUTERNOE_MODELIROVANIE_GORENIA_I_DETONACII_PODKRITICESKIM_STRIMERNYM_RAZRADOM

Good info!

PDE seems one step ahead of PAK-DP, at least as far as I can see, UEC is talking about using the core of the izd. 30 for this plane. This is compatible with a ABVCE for highly supersonic speeds up to 4 M like the RTA engine based in the YF120 (this would be yet another evidence indicating that izd. 30 is a VCE). This makes a lot of sense and is relatively "easy", what strikes me specially is that RTA talks about almost exactly the same speed as the 4.2 M that was hinted for PAK-DP, this is hardly a coincidence.

The competitiveness of a hypersonic interceptor.

Scientific and Technical Bulletin of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics,
2016, Volume 16, No. 1 4

The main problem at supersonic speeds is the increased specific fuel consumption. The takeoff weight of an aircraft at supersonic speeds (Mach number M> 1) is a power law function of the flight range, i.e. fuel reserve grows nonlinearly with increasing range. That is why the SPS-2 (Tu-244), designed for an intercontinental flight range, makes sense to design for a significantly greater passenger capacity than the Tu-144, otherwise the plane will carry itself and fuel, and not a payload.

At supersonic speeds, wave drag is added to the friction and pressure drag. If at subsonic speeds the perturbations created by the body of the aircraft are concentrated near its surface (inside the boundary layer and within a certain distance at which the pressure waves decay), then at supersonic speeds the picture is different. The shock waves generated by the aircraft are damped relatively weakly and can propagate for many kilometers, reaching the Earth's surface. Behind the front of these shock waves, the direction and magnitude of the velocity vector changes, and, accordingly, the gas momentum. The force of resistance, as is known, due to the laws of conservation, is equal to a change in momentum, therefore the resistance created by the shock waves is very high, since the mass of air involved in movement is large.

However, this does not mean that a supersonic aircraft with an equal fuel reserve with a subsonic aircraft must necessarily have a shorter range.

The flight range is determined by the Breguet formula

L = 1062 (KM / Ce) ln (G1 / G2), where K - aerodynamic quality; M is the Mach number; Ce is the coefficient of specific fuel consumption; G1 is the initial weight of the aircraft; G2 is the final weight of the aircraft. Several important conclusions can be drawn from this. The range is directly proportional to the speed, i.e. a supersonic aircraft with the same range as a subsonic aircraft may have a lower aerodynamic quality. The flight range is determined by the product KM. For the Tu-144, it is about 17.6 at M = 2.2, which is more than that of modern subsonic airliners (KM ~ 16). The Tu-244 was supposed to have an aerodynamic quality of about 9.5 at M = 2.2. Why, then, today are not considered at all ATP, calculated at a flight speed in the region of M = 2, and are immediately studied hypersonic projects with flight speeds M = 5-6?

It's all about the specific fuel consumption. For subsonic aircraft, Ce ~ 0.7 , for supersonic aircraft , Ce ~ 1.1. The reason is that the supersonic air flow at the inlet to the air intake must first be decelerated to subsonic speed, which is accompanied by losses, then compressed by a compressor, mixed with fuel in the combustion chamber, burned this mixture and accelerated the combustion products to a speed not less than the flight speed ... All these processes at M> 1 are accompanied by losses proportional to the flight speed. It is necessary to reduce Ce by 25%.

An engine with detonation combustion can have a specific consumption of Ce ~ 0.8 at M = 2.2. An ATP with such a power plant at a cruising speed of M = 2.2 will have a longer range than a subsonic aircraft. If we had such an engine at our disposal, the Tu-244 with a cruising speed of M = 2.2 would fly now.

Let us now consider the problems of designing a hypersonic transport aircraft designed for M = 4–5. A modern subsonic passenger aircraft has a KM / Ce ~ 22 complex , while an SPS-2 (M = 2.2) has KM / Ce ~ 19.5, i.e. with an equal supply of fuel, the range of the former will be greater. But at M = 5, a hypersonic aircraft already has KM / Ce ~ 21 . If we compare the transport performance, then the maximum it will be for a hypersonic aircraft, therefore hypersonic aircraft with traditional ramjet ramjet engines in the speed range M = 4-5 can be quite competitive due to the very high transport performance.

Pulse Detonation Development Trends

Spin detonation engine powered supersonic designed aircraft flying at Mach 2.2 will have comparable fuel consumption to subsonic aircraft at flying at Mach .8, which not only means supersonic aircraft will have ranges rivaling subsonic aircraft, but will surpass them in absolute range due to their less drag inducing aerodynamically superior design. This does not include the higher caloric density of solid (gel) propellant, utilizing a more uniformly efficient microwave ignition. Now it makes sense why they want to revive supersonic civilian transport.

It will likely power the MiG-41/PAK-DP (and other fighter aircraft), and revive supersonic transport, but will it supersede subsonic transport platforms? Highly unlikely and it's worth throwing cold water on the idea, not only because of the obvious political obstacles, but because of the volumetric reduction of supersonic aircraft designs. There's also the development of electric engines which will quadruple the absolute max range using standard (Lithium-Ion) batteries, that doesn't even include graphene batteries.

Here is a source a certain somebody did not add on this forum but the other since it does not match the intended goalpost of said user because it had the word hypersonic on it. https://tass.com/defense/1293949

Russia’s Sukhoi aircraft maker (part of the United Aircraft Corporation of Russia’s Rostec) is now developing Russia’s first single-engine low-observable hypersonic light tactical fighter aircraft, an aircraft industry source has told TASS.

"The Sukhoi company is developing a single-engine light tactical plane with the takeoff weight of up to 18 tonnes. The plane’s maximum speed will be above 2 Mach. It will also have super-maneuverability and improved takeoff and landing performance, thanks to a thrust vector control engine. The plane’s thrust-to-weight ratio will be above 1," the source said.

Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov told reporters in December 2020 that the company was working on the concept of an advanced single-engine light-and medium-class piloted and unmanned combat plane. "Work is underway to develop a combat aviation system of the future in its light and medium classes. Under the design, this may be a universal platform in the manned and unmanned versions. The company is working on the concept and the operational requirements for such a platform. We are doing this on our own initiative so far, without [federal] budget funds," the Rostec chief said.

Yes it is so hypersonic that flies Mach 2... I don't know even where to start with this nonsense you are writing so I will leave it all together. As said, think what you want and please stop referring to me with innuendos, it is quite silly

Don't expect journalists to know much.

LMFS wrote:

Yes it is so hypersonic that flies Mach 2... I don't know even where to start with this nonsense you are writing so I will leave it all together. As said, think what you want and please stop referring to me with innuendos, it is quite silly

Please dont tell me that you suffer from Alzheimer's   https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/news/engine-testing/russian-engineers-have-test-success-with-pulse-detonation-engine.html

“This will prospectively increase the maximum range and payload mass of aircraft by 1.3–1.5 times. The design will be able to be applied, for example, on orbital spaceplanes, supersonic and hypersonic aircraft, and future-generation rocket and space systems”, said Rostec.

Apr 30, 2021 6:53 pm I would also go re-check magnums early post here where it states that subsonic speeds of cruising in terms of fuel consumption are equivalent to Mach 2.2 meaning if those are just the cruising speeds, that there are indeed higher speeds it can attain than that.