Original Cold War Soviet Air Forces Pilot Set – ShZ-78/82 Flying Helmet – PO-1M Goggles – KM-32 Oxygen Mask Original Items

Original Items: Only One Set Available. This set consists of the following items:

– 1985 Dated Soviet ShZ-78/82 Flying Helmet in size 58cm (US 7 1/4) offered in excellent condition with original data label. Offered in excellent condition.

– Soviet PO-1M pilot’s goggles PO-1M brand new in box. The googles are constructed of high quality leather, soft and comfortable chamois interior. The set consists of: goggles with clear glass lenses, dark tint glass lenses, manual, box and lens cleaning/storage cloth.

– Russian USSR KM-32 Oxygen Mask offered in complete excellent condition.

Cold War Era Soviet pilot gear in excellent condition is very difficult to find. This set is in excellent unissued condition and represents a classic example of Cold War Soviet Air Forces technology.

In the 1980s the Soviet Union acknowledged the development of the Advanced Tactical Fighter in the US and began the development of an equivalent fighter.

Two programs were initiated, one of which was proposed to directly confront the United States’ then-projected Advanced Tactical Fighter (that was to lead to the development of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Northrop YF-23). This future fighter was designated as Mnogofounksionalni Frontovoi Istrebitel (MFI) (Multifunctional Frontline Fighter) and designed as a heavy multirole aircraft, with air-supremacy utmost in the minds of the designers.

In response to the American Boeing X-32/Joint Strike Fighter (F-35) projects, Russia began the LFI program, which would develop a fighter reminiscent of the X-32/F-35 with a single engine, without the capabilities of a true multirole aircraft.[citation needed] The LFI (Lyogkiy Frontovoy Istrebitel, Light Frontline Fighter) project was intended to develop a lightweight fighter with respectable air-to-ground capabilities. Yakovlev proposed the Yak-43, an upgraded Yakolev Yak-41 with a stealthier design and more powerful engines. After neglecting the MFI competition, Sukhoi decided to submit a design for the LFI called the S-37 (unrelated to the heavyweight forward-swept wing fighter). This S-37 resembled the Gripen in that it had canard foreplanes, a delta wing and one engine. Mikoyan entered the MiG 4.12. MiG could not afford to develop both the MFI and LFI, so their LFI entry was eventually withdrawn. Developed into Mikoyan LMFS.

Russia would later change the designation of the LFI project to LFS, making it a multirole aircraft with emphasis on ground attack capability. During the 1990s the Russian military cancelled the LFS projects and continued with the MFI project, with minimal funding, believing that it was more important than the production of a light fighter aircraft. No advanced fighter successor to the Su-27 and MiG-29 family has entered service. Sukhoi won the latest PAK FA competition in 2002; the aircraft’s first flight took place on 29 January 2010.