Engine problems causing delays in the first flight of the MFI according to Nikitin

Published: 11/16/1999

According to unofficial information from Sukhoi, the only operable prototype of the S-37 Berkut forward-swept wing fighter has recently exceeded the speed of sound. In all, the S-37 has made about 100 flights. Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of Sukhoi and former Chief Designer of the S-37 concedes that, while the S-37 is unlikely to enter service in its current form, it will provide a base for creation of a next generation light weight fighter (LFI). Russia's Ministry of Defence (MOD) has still to choose the primary contractor for the LFI. Sukhoi's rival, Mikoyan, is proposing its own variant of the LFI. Nikolai Nikitin, General Director of MAPO and previously programme manager for the Su-27M, Su-35 and Su-37, has apparently visited Mikoyan with a team of former Sukhoi engineers, rumoured to be those who shaped Sukhoi"s LFI variant. At a press-briefing on 11th November, Nikitin claimed that Article 1.44, the first operable prototype of the MFI fifth- generation fighter is now ready for its first flight. According to Nikitin, “powerplant issues" caused recent delays to the maiden flight, planned for October. Article 1.44, which has two experimental prototypes of the Lyulka-Saturn Al-41F engines, is known to have been fitted with high-speed actuators for its foreplanes (canards). According to Mikoyan specialists, these actuators (or, rather, their absence) were the major obstacle in getting Article 1.44 flight worthy. Nikitin said that the assembly of the aircraft has recently been completed, but that it will fly only after the engine-manufacturer provides guarantees for the engines. He forecast that this might happen by the end of November. In a brief interview with Concise last month, Pogosyan said that the engine problems were the key issue for Mikoyan. The S-37 Berkut, which was initially conceived with Al-41F engines, was later re-designed for much older, but reliable Aviadvigatel D-30F engines. Pogosyan remarked that while he had been “much criticised as the S-37 Chief Designer for installation of the D-30s… this hard decision has allowed Sukhoi to have the aircraft flying while [Mikoyan"s] is still on the ground". He added that the development of the S-37 began some three or four years after that of the MFI. "If I had stuck to the Al-41, the Berkut would have never flown", he said.

Article ID: 1081