Meet the MiG-41: Russia’s mystery stealth fighter

Mysterious Russian MiG-41 stealth jet fighter may be able to shoot down incoming hypersonic missiles. In 2016, MiG chief Sergey Korotkov commented during an event in South America that “by 2028, the fighter-interceptor MiG-31 will cease to exist.”

In the technology world, the term “vaporware” refers to a product that is not yet available and remains largely in the concept stage – it also often is something that fails to materialize and never makes it to market. Russia’s MiG-41 stealth interceptor seems to fall into the category of military vaporware.

Since being announced back in 2018, a few details have emerged about the MiG-41 jet fighter, including that it would be equipped with a ramjet or turboramjet engine and would use stealth technology and be capable of reaching a speed of Mach 4 to 4.3, while some reports suggest it could even reach Mach 5.

The MiG-41 also would be capable of carrying anti-satellite missiles and could operate in near-space environments. Some reports even claimed that the aircraft could shoot-down an incoming hypersonic missile.

It seems unlikely, even dubious to suggest that the MiG-41 could be remotely on schedule to make even make its first flight by 2025 as Rostec had suggested – and highly unlikely that the aircraft could replace the MiG-31 by the end of this decade.

Source: Military & Aerospace Electronics