Barry George wrote in message ...
Yes, I believe that it is likely that the PAK-FA will try to fill both
roles.

Russia still has a requirement for a heavy interceptor and given the
decisions so far it seems
likely funding will someday be reserved for it. It will be ten or twenty
years before there is
enough funding for it and it will have to compete with S-400 family SAMS.
Russia needs such
interceptors for defending such a large frontier but they cost money. The
Mig-31 weighs as much as
four unloaded Mig-29s and the fuel bills for it are shocking.

Soviet Fulcrum-A's or C's with their 1980-vintage equipment are more a match
to F-16A's (that's the SMT upgrade is for, but there is no money). About the
MiG-31 fuel bills-well, T-6 is not JP-7 (if it is T-6 at all), and MiG-31's
replaced Tu-128's, the lagest fighters/interceptors ever used in operational
service! Maintenance is the problem, not fuel. I haven't herd about the
latest BM conversions.


It will have to have very long range and will most likely (I am guessing
here) could take two forms
either that of a low speed, extremely high altitude missile platform or a
more costly fighter with
sprint speeds in combat of over mach 3.5! It is slightly possible that such
a project could be based
off of the medium and heavy bombers (think T-60 and T-4MS) which will
replace the Su-24 and Su-34.

Su-24/32FN are not medium nor heavy bombers (Tu-22M3/4 and Tu-160 are).
According to Samoilovytch, related drawings went to Tupolev that supposedly
trashed them, and MS projects never went further than the model phase
(Tu-160 is the resulting aircraft, although T-4MS allegedly got the
contest). T-4 (prototype) and T-4MS (proposal) are as much different as
XB-70 and B-1 (actually, MS is some combination of those).


Run a search on the mig project 7.01 to see the next stage above MFI!
-Jonas Weselake-George

Sukhoi already got MFI project go-ahead, and MIG is struggling. There is
nothing much wrong with MAPO-MIG, except that Sukhoi had Simonov-and he is
much better salesman than Belyakov. According to Samoilovytch, there was
some funny equipment that was designed by "Sukhoi" when Simonov came there!

Nele

NULLA ROSA SINE SPINA