This jet almost destroyed the F-22 - MiG MFI / 1.44

There's been a lot of discussion that the plane couldn't possibly have been "stealth" because of the rounded and protruding surfaces (deflection) and Russia's lack of radar absorbent material similar to the US's (absorption). Some believe the one that was built was done as a MiG 29 replacement with the plan to make it Raptor-like eventually, but it just wasn't going to be that much stealthier than an Su-27.

I think no doubt the Chinese took inspiration from MiG 1.44 when designing their J-20, at least in the initial design phase. Even though MiG themselves said they never shard any details with the Chinese. Perhaps they saw pictures of the MiG 1.44 and thought "we can try that layout too, since we do have experience with canards on J-17"

damn this is mustard level of production quality combined with found and explained quantity. absolute fire

The production value of this video is miles better than the ones you’ve posted previously

How did the 1.44 almost destroy the F-22? The YF-22 project was flying 9 years before the 1.44. By the time the 1.44 left the ground, it was already obsolete.

The animations are getting better and better, amazing job 👍🏻

Now, I know what inspired the Chinese Mig from C&C Generals. “Tactical fighter, reporting!”

I can draw all kinds of fantastic "Raptor Killers" on a napkin...

So this plane came nowhere close to destroying the F-22.

Enjoyed this vid tremendously. This is one of more obscure pages in the Russian aviation development that I really wanted to learn more about. THANK YOU!

I first read about this aircraft way back in Air Force magazine's Soviet Aerospace Almanac 1985 (90% sure it was '85) though they called it the "MiG 2000" then. The illustrations at the time are remarkably close to what the actual aircraft looks like.

A commonly misquoted detail: Project 1.44 (NATO codename Flatpack) was the technology demonstrator. MFI was Project 1.42 (Foxglove). Though the two are very similar, they are not actually the same plane. Think of it like the difference between the JSF X-35 and the F-35B; both have STOVL, but one is the finished product.

The "sawtooth" on the leading edge of the canards wasn't just a foreign concept to Russian design bureau! In fact, the Il-62 had the similar sawtooth edges on its wings to break up the formation of vortices during a high angle of attack orientation and reduces chances of stalling; something that a tail-heavy plane like the Il-62 really needed without major redesigns of control surfaces. Had the 1.44 went into production, a lot of flight assist computers would be installed into it just so it can fly without crashing. It was unstable by design to help with supermanuevrability in combat, something even the 5th gen Russian fighters are good at. Also, in a twist of fate it would look extremely close to the fictional "MiG-31" fighter in Clint Eastwood's Firefox down to its backward-firing missiles, an instance where life imitates art imitates life.

The quality of your content and editing is so damn good 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Beautiful animations dude, props to you, great to see quality Aussie content creators

One of the best aircraft chanel Will all the prototypes that were never made Amazing

The Mig 1.44 was reborn as the Chinese J20.

The aircraft alone is only the tip of the iceberg though, you need everything else to support them.

Thank you for your work!

Looks like a good aircraft. Shame it never went into production. Also, excellent animations once again.