Xander Do You Think Mig-35 Better Then Then F-22
Mate you do realise the MiG 35 is the offisial designation of the latest member of the MiG 29 familly, an AESA equiped MiG 29 OVT. Although this is shaping up to be an excellent multi role platform, considering it to be even remotely comparable to an F22 is beyonde a streach IMO.
Perhaps you meant the MiG 1.44? I know this can be confusing since it was once called the MiG 35, the russians change numbers more than the americans change names (remember F22 Lightening II, i even had a game with that name).
I know you asked Xander, but this is an interesting topic so i hope you dont mind if i give you my two cents???
First let me say tat the MiG 1.44 is only a demostrater and AFAIK has only flown twice, weheras the F22 is in squadron service and fully operational. They are two very very different things. So we are taking some huge leaps of faith here, assumbing the MiG 1.44 was operational at the moment with current russian tech.
In raw performance terms the MiG 1.44 is apt to be comperable to the F22. With the AL 41F the max ceiling should be well up in the 50kft range. Also the combination of these engines, a delta wing/canard design and internal weapons carriage should allow this platform to seriously supercruise at or above Mach 1.5. Thats nothing to snivle at and currently something that only the F22 can do. As far as rate of climb and digfighting ability, the wing loading is unknown (to me at least) but given the huge ammount of it, including the lifting body the wing loading should be relatively low, below 400kgm2, i'd guess somewhere around the -350kg/m2 mark. Also a pair of 40000lb thrust AL 41F's should give this 18000kg platform a decent power to weight ratio. So rate of climb and turn radius should be comperable to an F22 (perhaps even better), especially in Yaw as the AL 41F's are 3d trust vectored compared to the F119's 2d TVC. So all in all in raw performance terms the MiG 1.44 would be comperable to the F22.
However in terms of avionics and information dominance the MiG 1.44 is a long, long, long way behind the F22. The APG 77 will be the most capable radar ever to be put into a fighter once it evolves to the same technological state as the APG 79. It is miles ahead of the best operational russian radars, PESA's such as the BARS and Ibis. Russian AESA's are behind the Europeans in terms of development and allmost a decade behind the americans. The F22 also enjoys the huge advantage of haveing a real LPI radar system, and an excellent AN/ALR-94 RWR, which would detect Ibis's emmitions. However it wouldn't be a huge leap to assumbe that the MiG 1.44 would have an IRST like the OLS on the MiG 35 which would be an advantage over the F22 in the <50km range zone. The big questsion is LO. The MiG 1.44 is stated to be "stealthy", but given the russians lack of experiance with LO technology and the "conventional" design of the MiG 1.44, i doubt it would be very stealthy at all. It may have a frontal RCS in the ballpark of, a typhoon perhaps or a SH with external weapons. Basically not very stealthy. This is compared to the F22, the stealthiest fighter ever produced.
So would the MiG 1.44 be better than the F22? No way. Would it be as good as the F22? In WVR maybe, in total capability, no way. The huge lead the F22 would have in information dominance means that the MiG 1.44 would be chopped to peices well before they even detected the F22. It would however give a Typhoon a really bad time and would be superior to all of the teen and teenski series of fighters, J10's and eurocanards. It would outperform all of these platforms in raw performance (by a large margin in some cases) and would be comparable or better in terms of avionics. So in encence it would be an excellent platform, but no F22.