The research and development work of PAK DP will start from 2019
As reported by Sputniknews, Ilya Tarasenko, director general of the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG (RSK MiG), revealed that the next fifth-generation fighter will be designated as PAK DP.
Intended to replace the MiG-31, the research and development work of PAK DP will start from 2019.
“We are currently developing the concept of a long-range interceptor aircraft to bring a proposal to our main customer,” he said.
A claimed confirmed also by Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev, commander-in-chief of the Russian Air and Space Force (RuASF), who said that research and development work on the PAK DP will begin in 2019 at the earliest.
The MiG-31 (NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a long-range supersonic fighter-interceptor and was conceived to counter both high and low-altitude airborne targets. The Foxhound was first introduced into the Soviet military in 1980, and its mass production continued until 1994.
Currently MiG Corporation is fulfilling a contract to modernize the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces’ existing fleet of MiG-31s.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said last month that the work on the PAK FA fifth-generation fighter-bomber is at the final stage and that in 2017, “we will receive the 10th and 11th models which will be tested, while the first serial procurement of the T-50 fighters is scheduled for the next state armament program for 2018-2025.”
Earlier, Borisov said that Russia’s next generation strategic bomber, known as the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex (PAK DA), will perform its maiden flight in 2025-2026 and may enter mass production a few years later.
The bomber is aimed to replace all three bombers currently in service with the Russian long-range aircraft, including the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber and the Tu-95 and Tu-160 (aka the White Swan) strategic bombers.
Photo credit: Dmitriy Pichugin via Wikimedia Commons
