Description
The SU-50 is a direct evolution of the  Mikoyan article 1.42  (MFI  - Mnogofunktsionalny Frontovoi Istrebitel - Multifunctional Frontline Fighter), is a low-observable (LO) multirole fighter. The primary mission of the 1.42 is air-superiority which makes IT a direct Russian equivalent of the USAF F-22. 

The chief designer of what was the MiG MAPO has greater range than the F-22 and is claimed to be more versatile. While F-22 primary task is achievement of the air superiority, the SU-50 is capable in strike mission aswell. Like the F-22, it carry weapons both internally and externally and is capable of supercruise,  powered by trust-vectored control (TVC) engines. 

The Canard Delta 
The origins of the 1.42 aerodynamic configuration can be traced back to November 1945, when Mikoyan test pilot Grinchik took in the air ungainly looking MiG-8 Utka (Duck, Canard). First flown just half year after the end of the war, MiG-8 was build to tests the canard-swept wing combination as a potential future fighter configuration. Although build by a team of students with little or no interference from OKB MiG, Utka provided Mikoyan with low-speed data of unusual layout. 

In spite of the success of the winged delta MiG-21 Fishbed, which proved to be an exceptional platform for the second-generation Mach 2.0+ fighter, Mikoyan continued tests of destabilizing canard (Ye-6T/3, Ye-8, Ye-152M) and pure delta (MiG-21I Analog) configurations. 

By the start of the MFI project in 1983, Belyakov had sufficient data on canard-delta aerodynamics. The intelligence sources suggesting that European new-generation fighters had a close coupled canard-delta layout, triggered intense studies of the layout in wind tunnels of Central Aero- Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI). The aerodynamic benefits of unstable canard-delta, its shear volume available for fuel and internal weapon storage, proved to be decisive in the choice of the 1.42 configuration. The 1.42's twin fins positioned at delta's trailing edge added to battle damage resistance and control of the aircraft at high angles of attack (AOA). 


The MFI fighter was designed to meet the following requirements: 

- supermaneuverability (a capability to fly at supercritical angles of attack, at increased level of sustained and available g-loads and high turn-angle rate, which require a greater thrust-to-weight ratio and improved wing aerodynamic efficiency); 

• supersonic flight with afterburner disabled; 
• low detectability in radar and IR wave bands; 
• short takeoff and landing runs; 
• a significant reduction in flight hour cost, ground crew, size and weight of non-standard ground support equipment; 
• a new layout of onboard equipment and a new arrangement of cockpit information and control instruments; a high level of integration. 

   MIKOYAN MIG 1.44:

   _____________________   _________________   _______________________

   spec                    metric              english

   ____________________   _________________   _______________________

   wingspan                16.4 meters         53 feet 10 inches

   length                  21.7 meters         71 feet 2 inches

   normal loaded weight    28,000 kilograms    61,730 pounds

   max speed at altitude   2,500 KPH           1,550 MPH / 1,350 KT

   range                   4,500 kilometers    1,553 MI / 2,430 NMI

   _____________________   _________________   _______________________

Being a canard airplane with a delta wing, the 1.44 has a dozen or more control surfaces including canard foreplanes, wing leading-edge flaps, elevons, rear flaps between the engines and tail beams, rudders and movable rear sections in the ventral fins. All of the control surfaces and movable engine nozzles are controlled by the KSU-142 (kompleksnaya sisterna upravleniya) digital, fly-by-wire control system. Mikoyan's own press release states: "The wing, fuselage, control surfaces and vectored thrust, combined with the KSU control system, form a uniform aerodynamic surface capable of adapting itself for all conditions of flight." 

Power Plant:
 The 1.44 is powered by two Lyulka-Saturn AL-41F low-bypass-ratio engines, rated at about 39,340 lb (175 kN) each with afterburning, the same that are supposed to power the S-37. On the 1.44, they are fitted with 3-D nozzles that probably provide ± 15 deg of vertical and ± 8 deg of horizontal movement but it is proposed the engines that finally power the production aircraft will have flattened, movable nozzles to reduce considerably the fighter's infrared signature.