The 1.42 was meant to use flat 2D nozzles but the required materials technology was beyond Russian capability. The ceramic tiles on the AL-41F are radar absorbent, and were the cause of some major problems in themselves.

Ha!

Your US interceptor stole the planform of my superior Russian fighter!

The best comparison for the status of 1.44 within the 1.42 project is to think of it as the EAP in comparison to the EFA.

In many respects, the 1.42 would have been comparable to the F-22 but I disagree with SOC about “stealth”. When the basic configuration of the 1.42 was being developed in 1986-89 I don’t think the USSR had the technical base to develop a real “Stealth” fighter. Hell, even the USAF wasn’t sure it was possible or desirable during the early stages of the ATF competition, and the stealth requirements weren’t very ambitious until the end of 1985 when they were substantially increased.

Various comments by Mikoyan designers make me believe that the 1.42 was aimed at an RCS no better than 0.1 sq m. This is more in the range of a clean Eurofighter (0.1-0.25 sq m I believe) than the F-22 (RCS “smaller than a marble”), though the 1.42 would have the advantage of an internal weapons bay.

The MFI was also intended to be multirole from an early stage, with a possible dedicated recce version.

I’ve not seen a reference to more than one prototype since before the official declassification. A full-scale mockup was built, plus the 1.44, but thats all.

Actually, with the JH-7 they ordered at least 3 Spey engines per airframe built, I believe, which is a 50% overorder.

Erm, well, when they starting building it in 1991 Mikoyan were hoping to get funding to finish the project. Funding slowed to a trickle, however, and although it made taxi runs in 1994 it was lacking crucial flight actuators for its canards. Its resurrection in 1999/2000 was little more than a PR exercise ahead of the LFI/PAK-FA program (“look, we made a new fighter too”).

Testing of new engines or avionics are best done on testbed aircraft, not an unproven and unfinished prototype. The AL-41F was tested on a MiG-25 for the MFI program.

two modified Tu-95MS bombers

Actually, the modifications were to support Kh-555 and Kh-101, so Vympel may be right…