LFI/LFS

Interesting thing i found….never heard of it before…well to me that is. Looks like the Russians are building a match for the F-22, and they have made there LFI just like the F-22…..

A lil abt LFS…..

In April of 1999 for the first time Russia officially initiated the LFS program. The earlier LFI concept was under development at all major Russian design bureaus for quite a few years. Sukhoi, for example, modified it S-54 trainer project to come up with its S-55 LFI concept. Mikoyan is believed to have advanced much further in developing its LFI, although very little information is available.

Light Frontline Fighter (LFI/LFS)

Introduction to the LFI/LFS

In April of 1999 for the first time Russia officially initiated the LFS program. The earlier LFI concept was under development at all major Russian design bureaus for quite a few years. Sukhoi, for example, modified it S-54 trainer project to come up with its S-55 LFI concept. Mikoyan is believed to have advanced much further in developing its LFI, although very little information is available.

Mikoyan LFI (AKA I-2000) light fighter project

Mikoyan LFI (AKA I-2000) light fighter project

Introduction to LFI/LFS:

Despite of its name – Frontal Interceptor – the LFI will have considerable ground attack capability. Many compare LFI with American JSF and this may be misleading: JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) is primarily a medium-range strike aircraft with significant air-to-air capability. The LFI, however, is intended to be primarily a fighter with extended ground strike capability. What Russia needs is a replacement for MiG-29, which can match the famous Fulcrum not only in air-to-air performance but also in cost of production. This will not be easy. The LFI must also improve on Fulcrum’s ground attack capability.

But what about LFS? Well, by upgrading its existing fleet of MiG-29s to SMT standard Russia managed to add many years to the Fulcrum’s effective service life at a very low cost. However, there is a need for a small ground attack aircraft with considerable air-to-air and VSTOL capability to supplement the MiG-29SMT as well as to supplement / replace older ground attack aircraft, such as Su-25. The LFS can be safely compared with American JSF in terms of technical requirements, which were formulated by RuAF’s 30th Scientific Research Institute in 1998 and presented to Russian aircraft designers.

In the future Russian air force will look something like this: long-range interceptors will include Su-35s (or several other possible variants, such as Su-30M and Su-37) and MiG-31M, which later will be replaced by MFI (either MiG 1.42 project, Sukhoi’s S-37, or some new development). Russia’s medium-range strike aviation will gradually shift from aging Su-24s to Su-27IBs. In tactical fighter aviation MiG-29SMT will serve for quite a few years to come and will eventually be replaced by some LFI design, perhaps based on existing Mikoyan “I-2000” design, and supplemented by LFS. Tactical strike aviation will shift from Su-25 to LFS. As to long-range strategic bombers: it’s a whole different story with many unknowns.

In accordance with the conditions set by Russian Ministry of Defense, all competing LFS projects by various design bureaus must be submitted for review to the Russian Air Force during September-October of 1999. The main three competitors are: Mikoyan, Sukhoi, and Yakovlev. All three have certain advantages: Mikoyan made a lot of progress on MFI and LFI projects and is believed to have developed some new interesting technologies, Sukhoi’s main advantages are its good financial standing and S-55 project, and Yakovlev bureau is an expert in designing VSTOL aircraft. The new rules of the competition, established by Russian government, will assign the two unsuccessful competitors as subcontractors in charge of particular components of the victorious LFS project. This is a cost-saving measure and co-operation between the three design firms is essential to the project’s success.

At the moment it is impossible to predict which of the three design companies will win: very little information is available on the competing projects. It is known, however, that the design requirements determined by Russian Air Force include: supercruise capability ( sustained supersonic flight without afterburners), internal carriage of primary weapons, and VSTOL capability.

What is known about the competing LFS designs is this: Mikoyan’s early LFS design was to be powered by two 80-kN engines, possibly RD-33/RD-133. However, this had to be changed: as a cost-saving measure, Air Force requires that the aircraft is to be powered by a single Lyulka-Saturn AL-41F turbofan, which will be a common engine for the future MFI and Su-27IB aircraft. This would allow to decrease production and service costs. Sukhoi’s known LFS design is the S-55 aircraft with tandem tri-plane configuration (similar to Su-35 and Su-37), powered by a single AL-41F engine with a 3D thrust-vectoring nozzle.

It is still unclear whether LFI and LFS projects will become one aircraft. The LFS designation is very general, meaning literally a light frontal aircraft. This seems to include the LFI concept. It is entirely possible that Russia will seek extended international co-operation on this project. Sukhoi already offered Poland to participate in the development / production of S-54. There is a large number of countries which in a few years will be looking to replace their aging MiG-21s, MiG-29s, Su-25s, etc. It is rather unlikely that many countries will be able to afford American JSF, so they will look for something more affordable, which also doesn’t come packaged with American political demands. The LFS project is certain to attracts attention from Russia’s largest arms buyers – China and India – as well as from smaller customers who are looking to improve their offensive capabilities, like Yugoslavia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, etc.

Development of Russia’s LFI (logkiy frontovoi istrebitel) lightweight tactical fighter has been dramatically accelerated after the Russian Air Force decided its priorities for the next 10 years. Revealed here exclusively as the I-2000 (Istrebitel {fighter} 2000) project, the aircraft is due to become operational in 2005 as Russia’s basic front-line fighter. It is also likely to become the leading export product of the Russian aircraft industry. Available information on the I-2000 indicates that it will be closely comparable to the US Joint Strike Fighter, operating in both the air-to-air and air-to-surface roles.

The aircraft comes from a long line of Mikoyan lightweight fighters, such as the MiG-15 and MiG-21. It is about the same size as the MiG-21 (shorter by 1.3m but wider by 4.5m), but noticeably smaller than its immediate predecessor, the MiG-29. Take-off weight is estimated at around 12 tonnes; maximum take-off weight at about 16 tonnes.

The design requirements for I-2000 call for reduced radar and infrared visibility and very high manoeuvrability, as well as short take-off and landing. The aircraft will have a blended fuselage/centre wing and a thick wing centre-section, with curved leading and trailing edges. The unusual aerodynamic configuration and powerful thrust-vectoring engines should provide excellent agility. Take-off and landing runs are short thanks to a specially designed landing gear that permits approaches at high angles of attack.

According to official sources, single and twin-engined variants of the LFI are under consideration. The graphics show a twin-engined variant with an all-new power plant. No engines of the required thrust currently exist in Russia.

The first design of a very light new-generation fighter was prepared by Mikoyan in the early 1980s, when design work also began on the heavy fighter, the MFI (sometimes known as the 1-42). The result was ‘Product 33’ powered by a single RD-33 engine from the MiG-29. It was of conventional design, appearing similar to the US Lockheed Martin F-16.

Although work on Product 33 became well advanced, it was not ordered due to the air force’s reorientation towards multi-role aircraft – the lightweight Product 33 could be used for close air combat only. The basic Product 33 design is being offered by Mikoyan to China as the FC-1 fighter.

The only competition within Russia for the I-2000 is the S-54, developed by Sukhoi from an advanced trainer design of the early 1990s.

The S-54 is essentially a smaller, single-engined Su-35, with a more conventional layout than the I-2000. The status of the S-54 is unknown, but is thought to be in the initial stages of development. Having no real Russian Air Force support, the S-54 is intended for export as a complement to the heavy Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft sold to China and India.

It has been decided that the heavy fifth-generation MFI will not enter serial production. It will, however, begin flight tests this August as a technology demonstrator. Mikhail Korzhuyev, recently appointed Mikoyan’s general director, said that flights of the MFI are now a matter of honour for the company.

The aircraft has been ready for flight tests for about five years, but grounded for lack of cash. An extensive upgrade programme for the MiG-29 is to continue in parallel with development work on the I-2000.
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And this is the program that Russia intends to do with India as a 5th generation fighter…..If all goes well, as i think India will be a part of a very important and competative project…….this is what i found on Indo-Russian issue….
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INDIA RUSSIA TO DEVELOP FIFTH GENERATION LFS:

MOSCOW – India and Russia on Wednesday decided to jointly develop a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft, signaling new heights in defense cooperation between the two countries.

Russian Vice Premier Ilya Klebanov said that an understanding has been reached “in principle” with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the development of the fighter planes. Klebanov said that Russian experts would travel to India to make the presentation in the first quarter of 2002, adding that the designer of the aircraft might be named before the end of this year.

The announcement came on the same day that Indian aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said that it will invest millions of dollars in manufacturing a light combat aircraft in India for the first time. “The Indian government is going to very soon clear limited production of the Light Combat Aircraft [LCA],” HAL chairman N R Mohanty told the Press Trust of India in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

“The investment is going to be more than 5 billion rupees [US$104 million]. We will produce a small number,” he added. The LCA made its first test flight in January and was unveiled in public at an air show in Bangalore the following month.

India hopes the LCA – which has been on the drawing board since 1983 – will reduce dependency on imports for its technology-starved air force, the fourth largest in the world. Mohanty said that HAL was also in discussions with Russian aviation officials for the joint manufacture of a 100-seater multirole transport aircraft, which could be used as both a military and cargo plane. HAL is also keen on securing a license from Russian companies for the production of the sophisticated Sukhoi 30 MKI military aircraft, he said.

Following a meeting with Vajpayee, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed bilateral military cooperation between the countries as a “promising area”. During the Cold War, the former Soviet Union and India maintained close ties, as Moscow used to be India’s biggest arms supplier and an important trade partner.

Arms sales remain an important factor in bilateral trade. India and Russia have agreed to extend to 2010 a long-term program of military-technical cooperation signed in 1994 and initially limited to the year 2000. India, which has equipped nearly two-thirds of its armed forces with Russian hardware, imported Russian arms worth $3.5 billion between 1990 and 1996.

Under a protocol signed in November 1999 in New Delhi, Russia has agreed to sell a range of weapons systems to India. The deals could earn Russia as much as $4 billion over the next three years. These deals include $1.5 billion from the sale of 60 carrier-capable MiG-29Ks, with a further $1.5 billion from the sale of a production license for Su-30MKI multi-purpose fighter planes – which HAL is keen on acquiring. The remaining $1 billion would come from a deal to sell T-90 tanks to India and for the production license to cover the Indian manufacture of these battle tanks. By the end of 2001, Russia and India are to finalize a contract to sell the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India.

On the political front, the subject of a post-Taliban Afghanistan was a central theme during talks between Putin and Vajpayee. Both keen to promote their countries’ interests in a post-Taliban Afghanistan, the two leaders discussed the US-led campaign in Afghanistan and their commitment to stamping out terrorism.

On Tuesday, the leaders signed a joint statement as well as a declaration on strategic issues, which described terrorism as “absolute evil” and a global challenge to peace and security. Both sides also support a stronger United Nations role in any solution to the Afghan question should the Taliban be ousted.

Both countries strongly back the Northern Alliance, a grouping of ethnic minorities, that has been fighting the Taliban for years. Describing India as Russia’s “most reliable partner” in the fight against terrorism, Putin said that India should have a say in decision-making processes relative to Afghanistan’s future.

Putin also said that he supported the “Six plus two formula” – six neighboring countries plus the United States and Russia – to be used in determining the course of any Afghan settlement.

Putin warned against what he described as “a policy of double standards” that could result in a split of the international anti-terrorist coalition. “There cannot be good and bad terrorists, our terrorists and others,” Putin said.

Russia and India support a “multipolar world order”, the joint statement said, in reference to a declaration on a bilateral strategic partnership advocating a multipolar world concept that was signed during Putin’s visit to New Delhi in October last year.

A Russo-Indian statement on strategic issues supported the Anti-Ballistic Missile or ABM treaty as well as nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Going beyond the Afghan question, the two leaders also discussed economic ties as Moscow believes that the current level of bilateral trade is not enough, according to Klebanov. Bilateral trade turnover between Russia and India in 2000 slipped to $2 billion from roughly $3 billion in 1999. Indo-Russian trade includes tea, tobacco and pharmaceuticals from India and metal products and fertilizers from Russia.

Trade between the two allies, which averaged around $4 billion a year in the early 1990s, fell to $1.3 billion in 1996. Moscow had hoped to increase bilateral trade to $5 billion annually by 2000, but this benchmark is not expected to be achieved any time soon.

Putin said that Russia and India should prioritize cooperation in the energy sector, notably atomic and hydropower as well as oil and gas, and the modernization of industrial projects built in India by the former Soviet Union.

India is one of Russia’s biggest debtors, owing some $10 billion, mostly for earlier warplanes and other arms supplies. In 1992, an agreement was signed requiring India to repay the loans in rupees over 12 years, $1 billion of which would be used each year to buy Indian goods.

But the arrangement has not worked according to plan as Russia has never managed to purchase $1 billion worth of goods each year. Now moves toward switching from rupees to hard currency are seen as instrumental in encouraging trade between the two nations. This is why on Tuesday Putin also urged “more flexibility” in bilateral financial transactions.

During the visit, Russian and Indian officials also signed a memorandum on the Kudamkulan nuclear power project at an estimated cost of $2.6 billion. According to Russia’s Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, the agreement amounted to little more than a tentative deal because both sides have yet to sign a formal contract. The Kudamkulan contract is due to be signed by the end of this year, according to Klebanov. The project involves Russia building the plant in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, with two 1,000-megawatt reactors.
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So, IF India and Russia do this program and come out with an outcome soon enough, this project can be a huge success, but what the both countries have to avoid is the long time they take to develop something, specially India.

It will be nice to hear your comments on this…….

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