Saturn AL-41
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The Saturn AL-41F is a turbofan engine from the Russian engine manufacturer NPO Saturn . The engine, originally designed by Ljulka in the Soviet Union , has only been used on the MiG 1.44 so far .
The Saturn 117S -Triebwerk carries partly also the identifier AL-41FA1 . Despite the similar name, it is not a further development of the AL-41F.
development
The development of the AL-41F began in 1985. The aim was to develop a modern engine for fighter aircraft, which should achieve a thrust of over 200 kN. However, it quickly became clear that such an engine would be much too big. Since the fuel consumption would also be much too high, the requirements were then reduced. The first prototype was in 1990 in a Tu-16 - bombers built, bringing several test flights were carried out. Attempts have been made to retain the geometry of the AL-31F in order to enable installation in the Su-27 . But this never happened. Instead, the AL-41F was selected for the "MFI program" and built into the MiG 1.44, where it prevailed against a further development based on the Solovyov D-30 . After the flight test of the MiG 1.44 was given up, work on the engine was stopped for the time being. In the course of the PAK-FA program , the AL-41F was selected again and it was planned to install it in the series machines. However, the plans were also abandoned due to technical problems.
Little is known about the technical data of the AL-41F. The maximum thrust with post-combustion is approx. 175 kN, with the thrust-to-weight ratio being 11: 1. According to the magazine "Jane's Defense Weekly", the AL-41F is said to be based on the YF120 from General Electric , which was developed as part of the "ATF program" of the US Air Force .