Published: 6/19/1998

At the Engines'98 exhibition which opened on 16 June (see report on page 847), the Klimov company of St.Petersburg showed a full-scale demonstrator of the thrust-vectoring nozzle (TVN), designed for an advanced version of the MiG-29 fighter. Klimov says that this TVN will replace the ordinary one on the RD-33 engine in use on the MiG-29, the engine then being designated RD-133. Sarkisov, general designer with Klimov said: "The management of the VPK MAPO halted work on the MiG-29 with thrust-vectoring nozzles due to financial problems". At the same time, Sarkisov made it clear that this project has not been abandoned, and if financing gets available the work will be resumed. Also, Sarkisov said that Sukhoi is very interested in the RD-133. Klimov has had a series of talks with Sukhoi general designer Mikhail Simonov and his deputies on possible applications for this new engine. He hinted that Sukhoi is working on a light-weight fighter design equipped with RD-133s, but did not say whether it would have one or two engines. Sarkisov also said that the Russian Air Force has not decided what new-generation fighter design it needs. "They even do not know whether it should have one or two engines." The Mikoyan Article 1.42 (also referred to as MFI) and the Sukhoi S-37 are now considered "too big, too expensive" for mass production in present-day Russia. Because of this, the MFI term (Multi-role Frontal Fighter) is now being used in regard to a model beyond the Article 1.42. Presenting his viewpoint on what the new fighter should be, Sarkisov said, "I think it should have two engines. As of today, there has only been one crash of the twin-engined MiG-29 due to engine malfunction. At the same time, the single-engined USAF F-16 has had many more crashes due to engine failures." Sarkisov claimed that the RD-33 has proved very reliable in service on the MiG-29s and that is a good reason to develop it further. By the time it entered active service, Klimov had extended its lifetime by three times, the general designer added. Sarkisov mentioned that the RD-133 is not the first Klimov design to features a thrust-vectoring system. He said that because of an early requirement to provide a good performance at high supersonic speeds, earlier models, made to meet this requirement, appeared to be too heavy. Commenting on the full-scale demonstrator nozzle model exhibited at the Engines'98, Sarkisov said: "Nine months ago it existed only on paper. The difference in weight between the ordinary nozzle and this one is 60 to 80 kilos." Several years ago, Klimov developed a more powerful version of the RD-33 for use on a carrier-based MiG-29K (which lost in the fly-off to the Su-27K - now the Su-33). The company saya, however, that the two models are fully interchangeable, so that the newer one could be fitted to the old MiG-29s if necessary. A Klimov engineer responsible for the new nozzle said it can move 15 degrees in any direction, not just upward/downward as in the case with the Lulka-Saturn AL-31FP on the Su-30MKI and Su-37. This freedom in movement is provided by three actuators.According to the engineer, the weight penalty for the installation of this nozzle on the RD-33 is 90 kg. He added that Klimov will try not to reduce the current lifetime or the maximum thrust for the RD-33 as a result of installation of the nozzle. Starting with a TBO of 700 for the first-series RD-33s, Klimov then extended it to 1000, and then to 2000 hours. The RD-133 will have a maximum thrust of 9300kg, as the current RD-33 series 3 version, the company's representative said. (IN698.8) (VK)  

Article ID: 195