The Mikoyan MiG-AT (russian: МиГ-АТ) is a Russian
advanced trainer and
light attack aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
that was intended to replace the
Aero L-29
Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane).
Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to:
Aeronautics Airlines and companies
* Aero ( ...
and
L-39 L39 or L-39 may refer to:
* 60S ribosomal protein L39
* Aero L-39 Albatros, a Czechoslovakian jet trainer
* Bell L-39, an American experimental aircraft
* , a destroyer of the Royal Navy
* , a sloop of the Royal Navy
* Lahti L-39, an anti-tank rif ...
of the
Russian Air Force
" Air March"
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 12 August
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles =
, decorations =
, bat ...
. Designed by the
Mikoyan Design Bureau and built by the
Moscow Aircraft Production Association MAPO - the Moscow Aircraft Production Association (russian: Московское авиационное производственное объединение, Moskovskoye aviatsionnoye proizvodstvennoye obyedineniye) was a major Russian state-owne ...
, the MiG-AT made its
first flight
The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.
The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...
in March 1996. It is the first joint aircraft development programme between Russia and France and the first military collaborative project between Russia and the West to reach first flight.
[ The design lost out to the ]Yakovlev Yak-130
The Yakovlev Yak-130 (NATO reporting name: Mitten) is a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft originally developed by Yakovlev and Aermacchi as the "Yak/AEM-130". It has also been marketed as a potential light attack ...
in 2002 in the competition for a government contract, and had also been unsuccessfully marketed to countries such as India, Greece, and those of the Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
.[
]
Design and development
The design effort on the MiG-AT began when Soviet authorities looked to replace the country's ageing fleet of Aero L-29
Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane).
Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to:
Aeronautics Airlines and companies
* Aero ( ...
and L-39 L39 or L-39 may refer to:
* 60S ribosomal protein L39
* Aero L-39 Albatros, a Czechoslovakian jet trainer
* Bell L-39, an American experimental aircraft
* , a destroyer of the Royal Navy
* , a sloop of the Royal Navy
* Lahti L-39, an anti-tank rif ...
military trainer aircraft. The project competed with proposals from the design bureaux of Sukhoi
The JSC Sukhoi Company (russian: ПАО «Компания „Сухой“», ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer (formerly Soviet), headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and milita ...
, Myasishchev
V. M. Myasishchev Experimental Design Bureau (Экспериментальный Машиностроительный Завод им. В. М. Мясищева) or OKB-23, founded in 1951 by MGB UdSSR Vladimir Myasishchev, was ...
and Yakovlev
The JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau (russian: ОАО Опытно-конструкторское бюро им. А.С. Яковлева) is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head office is in Aeroport D ...
; in 1992, the designs of the two former firms were eliminated, leaving the MiG-AT and Yak-130
The Yakovlev Yak-130 (NATO reporting name: Mitten) is a subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light combat aircraft originally developed by Yakovlev and Aermacchi as the "Yak/AEM-130". It has also been marketed as a potential light attack ...
as the sole contenders for a government contract. Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991 and the subsequent fall in defence spending, Mikoyan entered into collaboration with French firms Snecma
Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...
/Turbomeca
Safran Helicopter Engines, previously known as Turbomeca, is a French manufacturer of low- and medium-power gas turbine turboshaft engines for helicopters. The company also produces gas turbine engines for aircraft and missiles, as well as turbin ...
and Sextant Avionique (later Thales Avionics), who would provide the aircraft engines and avionics, respectively.
Following the freezing of the MiG-AT's final design in early 1994, the Moscow Aircraft Production Association MAPO - the Moscow Aircraft Production Association (russian: Московское авиационное производственное объединение, Moskovskoye aviatsionnoye proizvodstvennoye obyedineniye) was a major Russian state-owne ...
(MAPO) started fabricating the first prototype. The two companies, which would merge in 1995 to form MAPO-MiG, used their own funds for the construction of the aircraft. The first MiG-AT (81 White) was rolled out in May 1995,[ before it was transferred to Zhukovsky, where it made a short initial "hop" in early March 1996. Its official first flight, however, took place on 21 March 1996, when Roman Taskayev took the aircraft aloft for 45 minutes, accompanied by a MiG-29UB and an L-39 acting as ]chase plane
A chase plane is an aircraft that "chases" a "subject" aircraft, spacecraft or rocket, for the purposes of making real-time observations and taking air-to-air photographs and video of the subject vehicle during flight.
Background
Safety can ...
s. The aircraft reached a height of and a speed of . The second prototype joined the flight test programme in October 1997; by then, the first aircraft had accumulated more than 200 test flights. Mikoyan had originally planned to conduct the test programme using three flying prototypes and a static aircraft and also to construct about fifteen additional aircraft for its joint international marketing effort with Snecma.[
The MiG-AT is more conventional than the competing Yak-130. It has a low-set, straight wing, engines mounted on either side of the fuselage and a mid-mounted tail. The first aircraft had avionics that had been jointly developed by Sextant Avionique and ]GosNIIAS
FSUE State Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Systems or GosNIIAS for short (russian: ГосНИИАС) is a State Research Centre of the Russian Federation in operations research and aviation weapons systems development. Founded by the decr ...
that was derived from prior French software. The avionics system comprised multi-function liquid crystal display
A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat panel display, flat-panel display or other Electro-optic modulator, electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liqui ...
s, a head-up display
A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...
and other navigation systems, some of which used commercial technology to shorten development time.[ The avionics systems, when working with the MiG-AT's ]fly-by-wire
Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires, and flight control co ...
flight-control system, allowed the aircraft to adopt the characteristics of third- and fourth-generation jet fighter
The fourth-generation fighter is a class of jet fighters in service from around 1980 to the present, and represents design concepts of the 1970s. Fourth-generation designs are heavily influenced by lessons learned from the previous generation of ...
s.[ The second prototype differed from the first in having Russian avionics and hardpoints for the carriage of armament.][
The aircraft is powered by two Snecma-Turbomeca Larzac 04R20 turbofan engines, rated at , that had been developed in the 1970s for the ]Alpha Jet
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform trainer and light attack missions, as ...
. Under a 1995 agreement between French and Russian authorities, the Russian side reserved the right to locally produce and develop a higher thrust derivative of the engine.[ In November 1996, a contract was signed for the production of ten Larzac engines for the initial pre-production aircraft, which did not come into fruition.][ At the same time, the was working on a Russian alternative to the Larzac, named the , rated at at take-off.][ Both aircraft prototypes later served as a separate test beds for the RD-1700 and NPO Saturn AL-55I engine.
As the tender for a military trainer progressed, operational experience in the air force and pressure from foreign participating companies shifted the original requirements for a purely trainer aircraft to one that encompassed a light combat capability.][ In mid-March 2002, Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov stated that the Yak-130 had been chosen over the MiG-AT as the air force's new trainers,] only for the media to subsequently report that both aircraft had been chosen. The Yak-130, however, was said to be superior as it could serve the dual role of a trainer and combat jet, and in the end, on 10 April 2002, it was announced that the Yak-130 had indeed been selected over the MiG-AT. Mikoyan protested the decision, in particular the expanded requirements for a lightweight combat trainer, and the weapons load requirement that was apparently too great for such physically-inadequate designs.[ By then, the two prototypes had amassed 750 flights.][
An aspect of the Mikoyan's original 1993 agreement with the French companies was that the latter would assist in the marketing of the MiG-AT outside the ]Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
(CIS).[ In particular, the agreement was intended to add credibility to the project, and to draw on Snecma's international business network. Aside from the CIS, Russia would market the aircraft to countries that had traditionally purchased the country's aircraft, including India and Malaysia.][ The aircraft was demonstrated to officials and pilots of such countries as Algeria, Greece, India and the United Arab Emirates.][ Despite the loss in 2002 to the Yakovlev design, Mikoyan proceeded with discussions with prospective overseas partners and continuing flight-test programme. In February 2004, the design received its Russian military certification, and it was expected that Algeria would be the first to place an order for the aircraft.
In June 2018, vice president of the ]United Aircraft Corporation
The PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) () is a Russian Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense corporation. With a majority stake belonging to the Russian government, it consolidates Russian private and state-owned Russian ...
Sergei Korotkov announced the Russian Defence Ministry
The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...
is considering a revival of the program and possibility of using the aircraft as a main platform for base training of pilots. Further, it was reported by Viktor Bondarev
Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev (russian: Виктор Николаевич Бондарев; born 7 December 1959) is a Colonel General and former Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces (1 August 2015 – 26 September 2017), and the former Comm ...
if the decision is taken, the aircraft may be introduced to the Russian Air Force in 2023.
Variants
*MiG-AT – two-seat basic military trainer variant.
*MiG-AC – proposed single-seat combat variant with shortened fuselage.
*MiG-ATC – proposed trainer/light combat variant of the baseline MiG-AT with helmet-mounted target designation system for air-to-air and air-to-ground operations.[
]
Specifications (MiG-AT)
See also
References
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20031002061449/http://aviation.ru/MiG/#AT
MiG-AT - Photo gallery on Pravda.Ru
{{Authority control
Mig-AT
1990s Soviet and Russian military trainer aircraft
Twinjets
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1996