The Soviet Union's actions were too backward, and the American F-15 had been delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 74, so when the F-15 flew in the sky, the Soviet Union's second-generation aircraft MiG-21 and MiG-23 were at war with them, which was a generation behind, and led to the loss of Soviet fighters, especially the air battle between Syria and Israel, and the exchange ratio made the Soviet Union unacceptable.

And now, third-generation aircraft such as the MiG-29 and Su-27 of the USSR have begun to enter service with the troops, a full decade later than the United States.

Ten years, what does that mean? It means that the fighters of the Soviets, after equipping the troops, are already lagging behind again!

The Su-27 is the most advanced third-generation fighter of the Soviet Air Force, with an extremely high thrust-to-weight ratio, comprehensively surpassing the F-15 in various technical numbers, it seems to look very good, but at this time, the United States has begun to develop a fourth-generation fighter!

The United States is transparent in many ways, for example, last year, the United States issued a tender for Lockheed and Northrop to be selected to develop the next generation of fighters, and gave the YF-22 fighter and YF-23 fighter numbers. The United States' advanced fourth-generation fighter has entered the research and development stage, and this kind of fighter with high performance requirements cannot be completed by their respective companies alone, so Lockheed, General Dynamics and Boeing have reached an agreement that if only one company's design is selected, the remaining companies will also join the development of advanced tactical fighter programs, and Northrop is also by the same plan as McDonnell Douglas, which is almost the full strength of the major American airlines to research new fighters.

Marshal Ogarkov did not think about the military, but it was precisely with the attitude of being in charge that he believed that his own third-generation aircraft would only be a transition in the end, and that his side would increase its strength. Only by developing fourth-generation aircraft can we catch up with the progress of the United States and compete with the Americans for future air supremacy.

The third-generation aircraft of their own side is terrible, and in the sky over the Afghan battlefield, even the American Tomcat fighters of more than ten years ago cannot be beaten. It shows that the Soviet Union still has a lot of roads to go.

Ogarkov is not a person who does not know how to be flexible, and now, the Su-27 has been leaked, and the USSR does not have much money to support the development of new fighters, so simply push the Su-27 to the exit!

There are very many potential customers for the Su-27, Iraq, India. It was the first potential buyer, relying on the export of the Su-27, which could provide a lot of financial support to the USSR!

At the same time, Ogarkov also knew that his side was not lagging behind in the project of the fourth-generation aircraft, and the Mikoyan Design Bureau was catching up.

In '83. MiG-29 began to be finalized, at the same time. The research and development of the next generation of fighters has already been carried out in the Mikoyan Design Bureau, and in the field in which they are best at, the air superiority fighter was actually overwhelmed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau, which has always produced interceptors, and the chief designer of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, Radislav Belyakov, with the main personnel of the design bureau. The project plan was started, the design code MiG 1.42 and the technical demonstrator code MiG 1.44.

The aerodynamic shape of the aircraft is still from the Central Research Institute of Fluids and Aerodynamics of the Soviet Union, who proposed that YìMi Gaoyan apply a full-motion canard layout to the new generation of combat aircraft, so as to relax the static and stable properties, increase the structural strength and improve the lift coefficient.

According to the opinion of the Central Institute of Fluidics. The appearance of the MiG-1.42 was determined. Aerodynamic design of close-coupled canard, tailless delta wing, belly multi-wave adjustable air intake, twin engine, and double vertical tail.

The main wing has leading edge maneuvering flaps, and the rear has flaps and ailerons; The leading edge of the canard wing is designed with serrations at the root; Twin vertical tails with vertical stabilizers cambered 15° and mounted on tail braces with the main wing extending backwards; Both the end of the tail brace and the pelvic fin have a movable deflection surface, and the vertical tail distance is large, which can avoid the vortex caused by the canard wing and edge strips.

What's more special is that there is also a horizontal control surface between the vertical tail and the engine nozzle, which can still maintain the horizontal control at large angles of attack, and the upper vertical tail and the lower pelvic fin can hold the airflow and strengthen the role of these two control surfaces.

The posterior half of the pelvic fin is the movable control surface and is also used to control yaw at particularly large angles of attack.

The rudder surface of the whole body, as many as 18 places! There is no second way to control it other than by fly. At the same time, this was the first time that a Soviet fighter had a canard layout.

In addition to these, the MiG 1.42 also attaches great importance to stealth performance, the body uses a large number of composite materials and integrated infrared signature control technology, and the air intake of the belly adopts a unique design and absorbing coating. All on-board weapons can be hung in the belly bomb bay, reducing the echo area. In addition, the canopy is treated with a metal coating to block radar waves.

The overall performance is advanced, at the same time, the power is also good, the use of Rurika-Saturn based on the AL-41F engine developed by the AL-41F engine, the maximum afterburner thrust of 175 kN, thrust-to-weight ratio of more than 10, to ensure that this fighter can do a long time supersonic cruise flight without turning on the afterburner, the maximum cruising speed at high altitude exceeds Mach 2.6, the supersonic range is up to 2000 kilometers, and the subsonic range is more than 4000 kilometers.

It is not so much a contest with the advanced fighters of the United States, but rather a breath of breath from the Mikoyan Design Bureau, which is the first in the field of fighters!

In the field of this fourth-generation fighter, the USSR has caught up, historically, preliminary design began in 83, the 1.42 design scheme of the Mikoyan Design Bureau was approved in 88, and in 89 the Mikoyan Design Bureau completed the design of a full set of drawings and began the production of the first fighter. In 94, the MiG-1.44 fighter conducted the first ground high-speed taxiing tests.

At the same time, the fourth-generation aircraft of the United States, in 91, the prototype of the Lockheed YF-22 using Pratt & Whitney engine was selected by the US Air Force, and in 97, the F-22 made its first flight.

If it were not for the collapse of the Soviet Union, even if the Soviet Union could drag on until 94 and 95 years and then disintegrate, the MiG-1.44 already had an official Air Force number and entered service with the Soviet Air Force, and the Soviet Union was already on a par with the United States in the fourth-generation aircraft.

The final fate of the MiG-1.44 is embarrassing, and even the fate of the entire Mikoyan Design Bureau was reluctantly merged into the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the end.

Now, history has changed a lot, when the secrets of the Su-27 have been leaked, when Marshal Ogarkov's influence in the army has gradually increased, Marshal Ogarkov insisted on his opinion, since the Su-27 has no secrets to speak of, what is the use of holding on? It's better to export in exchange for your own continued foreign exchange!

If the country wants to develop, it must reduce military spending, and now, high military spending is the main reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union, and from top to bottom, except for the military, everyone else has this idea.

It is necessary to cut military spending and put the country's main financial resources on economic construction, just like the countries of the East!

In the 70s, the economy of the Eastern countries was still a mess, and now, in less than eight years, the economy of the Eastern countries has begun to develop by leaps and bounds, which is an example of the success of reform and transformation! The USSR had to do the same!

However, what should we do while reducing military spending while maintaining sufficient combat effectiveness of the army? Then you can only start from the army itself, the USSR has a huge military industry, the production capacity is very strong, simply, let these military industries serve the national economy!

The export of advanced weapons and equipment in exchange for sufficient foreign exchange and reinvestment in the military industry to achieve healthy development while reducing state investment is the result of discussions between Marshal Ogarkov and General Secretary Gorbachev and others.

The biggest opponent of the military is Marshal Sokolov, who returned from the Turkmenistan Military District, and Ogarkov wanted to engage in a verbal exchange with the Minister of Defense to get Marshal Sokolov to agree to this proposition.

"The Su-27 is an important pillar of our national defense and military strength, and I will never agree to export a fighter like ours." Marshal Sokolov said: "After the implementation of the MiG-1.42 program, it is not too late to export the Su-27. ”

Marshal Sokolov still would not agree.

"If we don't export the Su-27, then there simply won't be enough money to push the MiG-1.42 project." Ogarkov said.

"How is that possible? What about our state appropriations? Marshal Sokolov said.

"The state's allocation will be gradually reduced." Gorbachev said: "In order to develop its own economy, China can disarm millions of people, and our army's military spending has severely dragged down our economy, and our military industry will gradually reduce the state's financial support, and we must realize the conversion of military to civilian use just like Huaxia." ”

Marshal Sokolov was immediately furious: "This is suicide of our army, is destroying our national defense cause, since the founding of the Soviet Union, it has taken decades to build a huge military industry, and now, if you want to destroy our military industry again, I will not agree to it, unless I am removed from my current post!" ”

If Marshal Ustinov were still alive, I'm afraid he would immediately take out a gun and point it at Gorbachev's head, daring to hit the idea of the army? The Soviet army is the foundation of the strength of the Soviet Union!

"If you are willing to resign, then I will agree to your request, and the Political Bureau will also agree to your request." At this moment, Marshal Sokolov heard a small voice.

Gorbachev has long wanted to kick out Marshal Sokolov, and with him, it will not be easy to carry out his own reforms, because if he wants to carry out reforms, he will touch the interests of many people, first of all, the interests of the military! A huge army, a huge military industry, was an important reason for the collapse of the USSR! (To be continued......)