Fifth-generation aircraft engine can create on the basis of the RD-33 installed on the MiG-29 fighter jets

Russian Aviaton » Friday December 14, 2018 00:43 MSK     © Russian Ministry of Defence    

The fifth generation engine for light fighters can be developed on the basis of the RD-33 installed on the MiG-29 fighter. About this in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel said the executive director of JSC "ODK-Klimov" Alexander Vatagin.

"The RD-33 engine still has potential, and a more modern engine can be created on its basis, which can be attributed to fifth-generation engines with a load of up to 11 tons. We are working on this," said Vatagin.

"The main requirement for fifth-generation fighter engines is the ability to develop a supersonic cruise flight without using afterburner," he added.

Earlier, the head of the Rostec state corporation Sergey Chemezov said that Russia and the United Arab Emirates will begin work on creating a joint fifth-generation light fighter based on the MiG-29 from 2018. Ilya Tarasenko, General Director of the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG, also noted that the fifth generation light fighter for the Russian Air Force will be developed in parallel with the project of a promising aircraft that Russia and the United Arab Emirates will create.

On the MiG-29 fighter, two RD-33 engines are housed in nacelles in the rear fuselage. The gas turbine engine RD-33 is a two-shaft, double-circuit turbojet engine with an annular combustion chamber, an adjustable nozzle and a hydroelectronic control system. The maximum unforced for the RD-33K is 5400 kgf, at the afterburner 8,800 kgf, the maximum thrust (in emergency take-off mode) is 9,400 kgf. The engine is equipped with MiG-29 fighters and its latest modification of the MiG-35.