Russia’s MiG Aircraft Corporation is working on the MiG-41 fifth-generation fighter-interceptor, MiG CEO Ilya Tarasenko said on Friday, August 17, according to TASS.

"No, this is not a mythical project, this is a long-standing project for the MiG and now we are carrying out intensive work under the aegis of the UAC [the United Aircraft Corporation] and will present it to the public soon," the MiG chief executive said, replying to a question about the work on the MiG-41 plane.

As reported earlier, the MiG-31 interceptor will be eventually replaced by the MiG-41 aircraft, which is also known as the PAK DP (Prospective Aviation Complex of Long-Range Interception).

As former Commander of Russia’s Aerospace Force, Chairman of the Federation Council Defense Committee Viktor Bondarev earlier said the experimental design work on the PAK DP’s development was expected to start from 2018.

Meanwhile, MiG CEO Tarasenko said that the R&D and experimental design work on the cutting-edge Russian interceptor was planned to begin "in the immediate future" and its deliveries to the Russian Armed Forces were expected to start in the mid-2020s.

Aside from the manned version, the interceptor’s unpiloted variant is also being considered.