The idea of a fighter with SSTO capability, aerospace flight and combat is hardly new. Science fiction is full of memorable examples, but in real life we find models that focus on other priorities (low maintenance cost and operating for 50-60 years). Nevertheless, the Russian Aircraft Corporation, better known as Mikoyan, announced that the future PAK DP or “MiG-41” will be able to operate in space, and even without a pilot.
The arms race and its consequences
If we look closely at the development of the F-35 Lightning II, it is easy to conclude that its internal costs... had a small leak, so to speak. Being a multirole fighter, its economic situation is expected to improve over time, and it should fly until the year 2070, by which time it will probably already be obsolete. After all, we don't call this situation "arms race" for nothing, and once the tactical capabilities of an aircraft are determined, the world's major forces move to develop a superior project. On the Russian side, we find big bets like the MiG-35 (entering service next year), the Sukhoi Su-57, and the Mikoyan LMFS, about which honestly little is known... but there is something else in the oven: A fighter that operates in space.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/05NpDHL_InIThe MiG-41 in detail
Its official name is PAK DP, although in general discussions the term MiG-41 is used. The web is full of "artistic interpretations" that imagine the MiG-41's design, but its technical specifications are logically kept secret. Still, the general director of Mikoyan, Ilya Tarasenko, explained at the Army-2017 expo a few days ago that it will be a new aircraft and not a modernization of the current MiG-31, which has been in service for over 35 years. The MiG-41 will be equipped with anti-missile laser weapons, will develop a speed of Mach 4, and will be able to operate in space (near the Kármán line? We don't know).
Two other very interesting aspects are the inclusion of artificial intelligence for managing some of its systems (critical in a Mach 4 flight), and the possibility that in the future the MiG-41 eliminates the pilot from the equation. Tarasenko placed a lot of emphasis on "the Arctic zone". The MiG-41 would concentrate its operations there, a strategic region for multiple reasons (among them, 22 percent of the world's oil and gas reserves). If everything goes as Mikoyan imagines, the MiG-41 will begin series development starting in 2025.
