The reason why Russia no longer has any single-engine fighters?

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union until now, Moscow no longer owns any single-engine fighter in service, despite the growing popularity of American F-16 fighters.

In the current payroll of the Russian Aerospace Forces, there are more than 2000 jet aircraft of all types. However, this force only uses two-engine fighters, does not own any single-engine fighters. One of the main reasons is that most of the fighters in the current Russian Aerospace Forces, most of which are fighters developed from the previous Su-27 series, use two jet engine. However, part of the reason why Russia did not use single-engine fighters in service, came from the lack of it in the final stage when the Soviet Union was about to disintegrate. Specifically with the MiG-29 fighter. This type of fighter, when developed, was aimed at a single-engine fighter design, to compete with the US-made F-16 fighter. However, this design encountered a very difficult obstacle, that is, the Soviet Union at that time did not have a jet engine strong and light enough to be applied to the design of the MiG-29 at that time. . Designer Mikoyan then had to revise the drawings of the MiG-29, forcing it to use two jet engines instead of one as originally envisioned. Basically, at the last stage when the Soviet Union was about to disintegrate, it was very difficult to spend money on research and manufacturing of new generation jet engines. The fighter designers were then forced to use all that was available to them, and the idea of ​​a single-engined Moscow fighter jet ended since. However, it can still be considered that twin-engine fighters have more advantages than single-engine fighters. The US itself at the present time has also stopped producing single-engine fighter aircraft, the F-16 version, although very popular, has only received further upgrades so far, the new production line has been closed. Doors from 2017 to 2019 are allowed to reopen, but only for export. Compared with single-engine fighters, dual-engine combat is considered to be more stable in operation. In the event of one engine failure, at least one remaining engine is enough to bring the plane to a safe landing. Two engines, which means that the aircraft will have two independent power supplies to power the computer system, and also the hydraulic systems on the plane. With single-engine fighters, once the engine stops working, the aircraft will immediately fall into a state of loss of control. Especially with today’s modern aircraft, which use fly-by-wire electronic steering, as soon as the engine is turned off, the computer will also turn off and the steering system will be useless immediately. The American F-16 fighter itself also uses special fuel, along with an electrical energy storage system, allowing the aircraft to operate for an additional 10 minutes after the engine is turned off. At the end of 10 minutes, the energy reserves will run out and the aircraft will also be uncontrollable. In the opposite direction, a single-engine fighter has the advantage of being more compact, lighter, and more fuel-efficient when compared to a twin-engine fighter with the same output thrust. Even the US F-16 fighters, capable of carrying weapons up to 7.7 tons, are only 300 kg inferior to the Russian twin-engine Su-30 aircraft. In the future, Russia is looking to replace its MiG-29 fighters with a single-engine fighter. However, up to now, the design of the new Russian single-engine fighter is likely still on paper. The first thing Moscow needed was a jet engine powerful enough to carry the fighter. Image source: Pinterest. Russia’s MiG-29 fighter is still considered the most “light” fighter that Moscow owns. Source: Mikoyan.