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Elements of Russia's defense and commercial aerospace industry are
making some progress, albeit painfully slow. Another
fifth-generation fighter effort is getting underway, this time with
Sukhoi rather than MiG in the lead. MiG, meanwhile, is trying to
push ahead with series production of the Tupolev Tu-334 regional
airliner. Both in the military and commercial sectors, Russian
industry continues to face demanding challenges. In the following
report, Aviation Week & Space Technology considers changes in
the commercial marketplace, and looks at technologies that may yet
eventually be utilized on some of the country's next generation of
combat platforms and weapons.
The Soviet-era moniker of the 2nd Central Scientific Research
Institute is a title that hardly sets the imagination racing;
however, it has played a key role in Russian low-observable
research for the past three decades.
The institute, or TsNII as it is abbreviated in Russian, is tasked
with examining the application and development of Russian
low-observable (LO) technology, while also considering the stealth
characteristics of foreign platforms.
Traditionally most closely associated with the now defunct Russian
air defense force (PVO), since subsumed within the air force, the
institute has been involved in the design and development of
systems from all the services, both tactical and strategic. In the
case of its work for the PVO, this was primarily driven by
establishing requirements for Russian air defense systems. In
particular, the institute looked at determining the radar
cross-section characteristics of potential threat platforms.
Irrespective of the state of Russian defense expenditure, the work
carried out by TsNII is feeding into the air force's ambitions to
modernize both its tactical and strategic inventory. While the
Su-27 Flanker and derivatives such as the Su-27IB, when it
eventually enters service, will form the core elements of the air
force's fighter and strike capability for the next 10 years and
beyond, new platforms eventually will need to be fielded. These
will include whatever finally emerges from the Sukhoi-led effort to
develop a fifth-generation multirole tactical aircraft;
realistically, this is likely to be fielded in reasonable numbers
no earlier than around 2015.
The institute would also have been closely involved in the
predecessor to this program, the MiG 1.42 multirole frontal fighter
(MFI). While a prototype of the MFI, the 1.44, was finally flown,
the Russian defense ministry abandoned it, primarily because of a
lack of funding.