Top Russian Test Pilot: Russia – Not The U.S. – Is The Only Country With Successful Fifth-Generation Aircraft

When American fifth-generation fighters, the F-35 in particular, have 419 deficiencies, the Russian test pilot might actually not be spreading propaganda.

 

Anatoly Kvochur (Source: Migflug.com)

 

On April 11, 2016, the pro-Kremlin media outlet Pravda.ru published an interview with Anatoly Kvochur, a distinguished Russian test pilot, who started his career in the Soviet forces and is currently deputy chief of the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky airbase. In the interview, Kvochur states that Russia has developed successful fifth-generation fighter aircraft – as opposed to the U.S., whose F-22 and F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets should, he claims, be considered a “failure.”[1] He also asserts that Russia’s “military doctrine is purely defensive,” whereas U.S. military doctrine is “a doctrine of global domination.”

On March 2, 2016, Russian Aerospace Forces commander Viktor Bondarev announced that Russia’s sixth-generation fighter is being developed in both manned and unmanned versions.[2]

The following are excerpts from Kvochur’s interview with Pravda.ru:[3]

Russia developing space age fighter jet

“The MiG-41 will embody all the advantages of the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor,” Alexander Tarnayev, a member of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, said.

 

MiG-41. This superfast interceptor is not yet off the drawing board at the Mikoyan military aircraft design bureau, but the final draft may be ready already within the next couple of years with mass production scheduled to begin before 2025, Zvezda television channel reported on Friday.

There is not very much known about the MiG-41 because everything about this plane, just like with all top modern military projects, remains classified.