by Lonnie Sweet

On March 30, 1867 the Senate failed to ratify, and effectively squashed, the Alaska Purchase from Russia. Secretary of State William H. Seward, despite his best actions, was heartbroken and agreed never to pursue the action again.

Fast forward 140 years to a secret Soviet airstrip in the Alaskan panhandle. After first finding gold in their province and then a huge oil deposit, the Soviet Union is thriving, and the military presence in Alaska has the US and Canada very worried. There have been sightings of a new type of aircraft over the Rocky Mountains, and the monitoring stations in British Columbia are the newest defense hotspot in North America.

The Mig 42-Bear Claw is a V/STOL fighter capable of super cruise, as well as having a radar signature 1/10 of the F-22. This particular craft, believed to be part of the feared “Siberian Tigers”, is configured for pipeline patrol.

The craft has both external hard points and a multi-role internal bomb bay, with the internal hard points being able to attach to anything from surveillance equipment to tactical nuclear weapons. Because of its fully adaptive camouflage the craft can alter its visual appearance at the pilots whim. As well the combination of V/STOL and thrust vectoring make this craft the superior dog fighter of its time.

The model started life as an F-15E eagle, with parts from an F-22, AH-64, Mig-29, VF-1J and other spare parts thrown in. The largest amount of time on the build was getting the wing surfaces to mate properly and filling gaps (milliput).

Image: Right side

Image: Left/front

Image: Tailfeathers

Image: Underneath