It was recently reported that the time has come to revive single-engine fighter jets in Russia, because it is not for nothing that the United States and its allies still operate inexpensive F-16 fighters developed in the 70s and order expensive fifth-generation Fs. -35s. The fact is that single-engine planes cost and operate less, they are lighter, they have one crew member and excellent cargo capacity, although they don’t fly as far as their heavier twin-engine counterparts.
Russian expert Ilya Kramnik also drew attention to the mentioned issues, who shared his opinion about it on his Telegram channel. He noted that once Russia had really light fighters – single-engine MiG – 21 (empty weight: 5460 kg), but they are no longer there, and considered by many to be “light and cheap” twin-engine MiGs – 29 (empty weight: 5,460 kg) 10,900 kg) are not in reality. They, like the American single-engine F – 16 (empty weight: 8910/9466 kg), which for some reason are also called “light”, should be classified as medium fighters.
But the F – 16, unlike the MiG – 29, can be called an inexpensive aircraft for the US Air Force itself – there it is unified in engine terms with the twin-engine F – 15 and is significantly cheaper in terms of hour price, and for everyone, including in comparison with MiG – 29
he precised.
The expert noted that the easiest way to compare planes is the cost of one hour of flight. But you need to compare something new, not old, because in countries where the MiG-29 was supplied with “free mountains of USSR Air Force spare parts” and low salaries of technical personnel, their operation can indeed be cheaper than F-16 in the NATO Air Force.
For those who are going to take new cars with all the infrastructure, the price will be different. Therefore, you need to find someone who will compare the price of an hour of flying these machines for themselves and under the same conditions. Here the Argentine Air Force comes to the rescue. In 2022, as part of the selection of a promising aircraft, comparing F – 16 (USA), MiG – 35 (RF), JF – 17 (China) and Tejas (India), args received the hour numbers following flights: JF – 17 – $7600, F – 16 – $10,000, Tejas – $12,000, MiG – 35 – $18,000
he underlined.
At the same time, JF – 17 and MiG – 35 can be considered a “technical pair”, since they use the power unit of the same family – RD – 33 (one RD – 93 and two RD – 33MK , respectively). Therefore, the price of a flight hour for a single-engine fighter of this class for the Russian Aerospace Forces, all other things being equal, would be about 2.4 times cheaper than a twin-engine aircraft.
How does the price for a MiG flight hour differ from that of Sukhoi? Again we go to strangers. MiG – 35 and Su – 30 were compared by Myanmar, having received the ratio: MiG – 35 – $20,000, Su – 30 – $35,000
he added.
The expert explained that the flight hour of the Su-35 also “slips” from 30 to 40 thousand dollars in various sources. This automatically puts the Su-30/35 in the big leagues for the wealthy, as the F-15’s last flight hours for the Persian Gulf monarchies are in the same range.
Again, for yourself, of course, it will be cheaper. But I insist once again: we are not interested here in absolute figures, but in proportions. And they are as follows: if we take a conditional single-engine light classmate MiG – 21 per unit, then the approximate proportion will be as follows:
Light single-engine (class MiG – 21 / JF – 17) – 1.
Medium single-engine (class F – 16 / J – 10) – 1.3.
Medium twin (MiG class – 29/35 / F / A – 18E / F) – 2-2.5.
Heavy twin-engine – (Su – 30/35 / F – 15) – 3-4.
Well… we’re not Americans. Our country is big, rich, we can spend money
he summarized.
Photos used: Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum/flickr.com
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