After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union became a game between the United States and Russia. For more than 30 years, the two sides have been going back and forth, and they have been fighting each other. In particular, in the competition in armaments, despite the economic sanctions imposed by the United States, Russia has not fallen behind in the development of high-tech weapons, but is in the leading position in many cases.
This year, there was once again shocking news from Russia, the much-talked-about MiG-41, which will soon be available, may make its first flight in 2025, and will enter service before 2028. This is a sixth-generation fighter, which can hit satellites on the top and anti-aircraft carriers on the bottom.
The appearance of this fighter will bring about a major change in the global military landscape, especially for the US satellite network, which may face unprecedented threats.
The MiG-41 is an advanced interceptor designed to defend Russian airspace, mainly used to replace the aging MiG-31. Its biggest feature is its amazing flight speed, which is said to be able to reach 5 times the speed of sound, far exceeding the current fifth-generation aircraft, and more than twice as fast as the J-20 and the American F-35.
With such a high-speed flight capability, the MiG-41 can cover a wide airspace in a short period of time, including opponent fighters, low-orbit satellites, missiles, warships and other major targets for strike missions.
The background of the development of the MiG-41 is closely related to the geographical environment of Russia. Russia's vast territory, the largest in the world, spans the Eurasian continent, while Siberia is vast and sparsely populated, and is in a state of extreme cold all year round, which limits the deployment of air force fighters. Even if it is barely deployed, the airbase will face huge operating and routine maintenance costs. This is not ideal for the Russian army, which is already economically strained.
Therefore, the Russian army urgently needs a fighter with a long range, high power, and can cover the entire Siberian region to ensure the security of the Russian mainland, and at the same time facilitate daily patrols and reduce military expenses. To meet this need, the MiG-41 was born. It not only has supersonic speed, the maximum flight speed even reaches Mach 6, but also has a combat radius of up to 1,500 kilometers, and can launch air-to-air missiles to intercept or strike enemy missiles.
What's even more striking is that the stealth ability of the MiG-41 is outstanding, which directly improves its battlefield survivability. Moreover, its flight altitude is very terrifying, flying directly into the upper atmosphere, reaching near space, and can also carry laser weapons, which is a huge security threat to US satellites. Relevant people believe that it will be mankind's first space fighter.
But some experts believe that the MiG-41 may not be a traditional fighter, but a drone. Because the human body's physiology can withstand the limit conditions, such a fast speed is simply impossible for pilots to control.
There are also people who believe that Russia will not be able to build it at all, because the engine problem is difficult to solve, and to increase the speed to Mach 5, the number of engines needed will inevitably increase, and the increase in weight will affect the speed, which is a world problem. Unless there is a huge breakthrough in this part of Russia, there is a lot of moisture in this speed.
In any case, in the past two years, Russia has frequently sent out news about the MiG-41. If it is launched, it will inevitably trigger new military changes, and the form of future warfare will be more complex and changeable.