Lankan Ranger
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Cancelled Russian LFI Project Now JF-17 Fighter
The LFI (Lyogkiy Frontovoy Istrebitel, Light Frontline Fighter) project was intended to develop a lightweight fighter with respectable air-to-ground capabilities.
Yakovlev proposed the Yak-43, an upgraded Yak-41 with a stealthier design and more powerful engines. After neglecting the MFI competition, Sukhoi decided to submit a design for the LFI called the S-37 (unrelated to the heavyweight Forward-swept wing fighter). This S-37 resembled the Gripen in that it had canard foreplanes, a delta wing and one engine.
Mikoyan entered the MiG izdeje 33 design, which bore a resemblance to the F-16. MiG could not afford to develop both the MFI and LFI, so their LFI entry was eventually withdrawn. The program was subsequently cancelled in 1992, and no prototypes of the three designs were built, although MiG sold the izdeje 33 concept to China, which resulted in the JF-17 Thunder fighter.
Post-PFI Soviet/Russian aircraft projects - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The LFI (Lyogkiy Frontovoy Istrebitel, Light Frontline Fighter) project was intended to develop a lightweight fighter with respectable air-to-ground capabilities.
Yakovlev proposed the Yak-43, an upgraded Yak-41 with a stealthier design and more powerful engines. After neglecting the MFI competition, Sukhoi decided to submit a design for the LFI called the S-37 (unrelated to the heavyweight Forward-swept wing fighter). This S-37 resembled the Gripen in that it had canard foreplanes, a delta wing and one engine.
Mikoyan entered the MiG izdeje 33 design, which bore a resemblance to the F-16. MiG could not afford to develop both the MFI and LFI, so their LFI entry was eventually withdrawn. The program was subsequently cancelled in 1992, and no prototypes of the three designs were built, although MiG sold the izdeje 33 concept to China, which resulted in the JF-17 Thunder fighter.
Post-PFI Soviet/Russian aircraft projects - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia