Key Points and Summary – The MiG Project 1.44 “Flatpack” was Russia’s ambitious answer to America’s F-22 Raptor, intended to be a fifth-generation fighter with stealth, supercruise, and superior maneuverability.
-However, the program was doomed by its own ambition and, most critically, the economic chaos following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
-The project’s funding evaporated, and the prototype flew its first test flight nine years behind schedule in 2000.
-After only one more flight, the program was canceled, serving only as a technology demonstrator whose lessons later influenced the Sukhoi Su-57.
Russia’s MiG 1.44 Would Never Match the F-22 Raptor Fighter
MiG (originally “Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau,” named for and founded in 1939 by aircraft designers Artem (Artyom) Ivanovich Mikoyan [5 August 1905 – 9 December 1970] and Mikhail Iossifovitch Gurevich [12 January 1893 – 12 November 1976]; now simply known as “Mikoyan”) is undoubtedly the most prestigious and time-honored name in the history of Russian warplane production (with all due respect to Sukhoi and Tupolev).
To name just a few of the myriad of warbirds made by MiG, there was the MiG-3 that fought the Luftwaffe during World War II (or as the post-Soviet Russians still prefer to call it, the “Great Patriotic War”), the MiG-15 that shocked the hell out of American combat aviators during the Korean War, the MiG-21 “Fishbed” that was the chief adversary of the American F-4 Phantom II during the Vietnam War, and the Mach 3.2-capable MiG-25 “Foxbat” (which is still the fastest jet fighter-interceptor ever produced)
But even the best companies, being manmade entities and therefore inherently imperfect, produce their fair share of failures and duds.
Among MiG’s less-than-stellar products have been the MiG-35 “Fulcrum-F and the MiG-41 (AKA the PAK DP).
And then there’s our current subject at hand, the MiG Project 1.44.
MiG 1.44 “Flatpack” Initial History and Premise
As is the case with the MiG-35 and the MiG-41, the MiG Project 1.44 (NATO reporting name “Flatpack”) was designed long after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, it does trace its roots back to the Cold War, as the Soviets sought a successor to the Sukhoi Su-27 “Flanker.”
The impetus for a successor to the Flanker was driven by America’s Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, which, for its part, was the US military’s attempt to develop a successor to the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 Eagle and produced the result we now know as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.
Accordingly, the Soviet project was approved in 1983, under the designation of I-90, short for “Istrebitel’ 1990-h godov,” which literally translates to “Fighter of the 1990s.” The I-90 program, in turn included the MFI (Mnogofunksionalni Frontovoy Istrebitel, i.e., “Multifunctional Frontline Fighter”).
The lofty goals of the MFI were to integrate stealth or stealthy characteristics with super maneuverability, cutting-edge radar and electronics, the best weaponry available, and the ability to supercruise at supersonic speeds.
However, that “Fighter of the 1990s” designation would prove to be an overly optimistic and not-so-prescient misnomer, as the result of the I-90 project, the MiG Project 1.44, didn’t make its maiden flight until 29 February 2000, a whopping nine years behind schedule (more on this in a bit).
Only one airworthy specimen was built. The MiG 1.44 never made it to production fashion and instead merely served as a multirole fighter technology demonstrator.
MiG 1.44 Technical Specs and Vital Stats
(NOTE/CAVEAT EMPTOR: Since the plane never made it past pre-production phases, most of the following figures are estimates/projections.)
-Crew: 1 (pilot)
-Fuselage Length: 21.7 m (71 ft 2 in)
-Wingspan: 17 m (55 ft 9 in)
-Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
-Empty Weight: 18,000 kg (39,683 lb.)
-Maximum Takeoff Weight: 37,000 kg (81,571 lb)
-Powerplant: 2 × Saturn Alyulka AL-41F afterburning turbofan engines generating 177 kilonewtons (40,000 pounds-force) with afterburner
-Max Airspeed: Mach 2.35 (2,480 km/h, 1,540 mph, 1,340 knots)
-Range: 4,000 km (2,500 statute miles, 2,200 nautical miles)
-Service Ceiling: 17,000 m (56,000 ft)
-Armament: 1 × 30 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 autocannon with 250 rounds; Vympelir-to-air missiles (AAMs) such as the NPO R-77 (“AA-12 Adder”), R-73 (“AA-11 Archer”), and R-37 (“AA-13 Axehead”)
The would-be warbird sported a canard delta wing, which, combined with an inherently unstable flight profile controlled with a fly-by-wire system, was intended for optimal air combat maneuverability. These design features were combined with large under-fuselage air intakes that kept the twin engines fed during the high angle of attack maneuvers experienced during hard combat flying.
Why Did It Fail?
You may have already guessed the reasons from the foreshadowing provided in the first few paragraphs of this article.
As Ed Nash, creator and narrator of Ed Nash’s Military Matters, explains in a 13 March 2023 article:
“If this all sounds like it might be a bit ambitious, well it was. By 1991 Mikoyan was able to get a suitable design into advanced conception and was issued a production order for the 1.44 demonstration prototype to be built…just in time for the Soviet Union to collapse…To be fair, the ambitious goals Mikoyan set with the 1.44/42 project might well have been impossible even if the Cold War hadn’t ended, but the dissolution of the entire country certainly spelt the aircraft’s death knell…The terrible condition of the Russian economy meant that progress went at a crawl, and in 1997 the Russian government decided to pull the plug on the program, with the single 1.44 as the only aircraft close to completion and four of the 1.42 production aircraft in various stages of construction. Despite this, Mikoyan managed to keep development staggering on until, in the year 2000, the 1.44 actually took to the air.”
In other words, it was a matter of dollars and sense (cents), or perhaps more accurately, rubles and kopeks.
That aforementioned maiden flight lasted 18 minutes, with test pilot Vladimir Vladimirovich Gorbunov at the controls. Mr. Gorbunov managed to get the jet up to a speed 370mph (600km/h) and an altitude of 1,000m (3,300ft), and afterwards told reporters that the plane flew well. However, in spite of that positive assessment, the MiG 1.44 only made one more flight, a 22-minute sojourn on 27 April 2000.
MiG 1.44: Where Is It Now?
The MiG 1.44 prototype was preserved for posterity as a museum piece at the Gromov Flight Research Institute. As for the MFI project as a whole, it was superseded by the more modern and affordable PAK FA program, which resulted in the Sukhoi Su-57 “Felon.”
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
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August 3, 2025 at 1:38 am
It’s all just water that’s long passed the bridge.
Today, now, in 2025, advanced radars plus satellite E/O sensors are able to ‘unstealth’ stealth aircraft like the f-22 and f-35 and b-2 and b-21.
What is critical for tomorrow are spaceplanes and suborbital craft and space shuttles.
Without those assets, the world will become totally controlled by the gloval fascist forces, the nazis and the wokeists and the europurees.
The very survival or existence of the global anti-fascist forces depends very highly on the critical cerebral capability or power of the anti-fascist network.
But does that present itself right now, or has there been.proof of existence.
Hard to say.