Russia and the United Arab Emirates have
reached an agreement to jointly develop a new combat aircraft. The plane will
reportedly be a "fifth-generation" fighter, according to Russian
defense contractor Rostec, that will fly some time after 2025.
The announcement was made at the IDEX 2017 arms
trade show in Abu Dhabi. Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov told Defense News that the
aircraft will be based on the twin-engine MiG-29 (above), which was originally
fielded in the 1980s. Chemezov said that development of the fighter would
commence in 2018, and would take "seven to eight years". He also
stated that production would take place in the United Arab Emirates.
A fifth-generation fighter is one that is commonly
considered to be optimized for stealth and high performance. This typically
includes so-called "supercruise" capability, or the ability to cruise
above the speed of sound. It often also includes an advanced active
electronically scanned array radar and advanced networking capabilities. The
F-22 and F-35 are fifth-gen fighters.
The choice of the MiG-29 as the basis is an odd
one, though, and reflects a compromise. True fifth-generation fighters often
take a decade or more to develop—just look at the saga of the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter program. Using the MiG-29 airframe will allow Russian designers to
speed up the development process. It also means the airframe will dictate the
stealthiness of the plane, rather than the need for stealthiness dictating the
shape of the plane.
The United Arab Emirates picked an odd bedfellow
for developing its first combat jet. Russia is currently developing the
fifth-gen PAK-FA fighter with India. Ideally, this allows both partners to
field an advanced fighter at a fraction of the cost of developing it
themselves, but development issues, delays, and spiraling costs have left the
Indians deeply dissatisfied with the PAK-FA program, to the point where the
Indian Air Force wants to purchase fewer of the aircraft.
What will the plane look like? It's uncertain at
this point, but Russian defense blog BMPD has a concept design floated by
Rostec in recent years of an advanced MiG-29. The plane appears to have a large
delta wing and an enlarged fuselage, absolutely necessary in order to carry
weapons internally and preserve the aircraft's stealthy shape. The UAE-Russian
fighter may look something like this.
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