A-Model 07258 Yakovlev Yak-38U Forger two-seater - the training version of Soviet carrier based VTOL aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-38 (NATO code: Forger) was a jet, on-board fighter-attack aircraft, with a duralumin, half-shell Soviet production. The propulsion was provided by: one R-28 turbojet engine and two RD-38 starter engines. The flight of the prototype took place in 1970, and serial production continued in the USSR from 1975. It is estimated that about 230 copies of this machine were produced in its course. The Yakovlev Yak-38 was created in response to the demand of the Soviet Navy for a vertical, short take-off and landing (V / STOL) aircraft - conceptually, it would therefore be very similar to the British Harrier. The task set for the Yakovlev design office was difficult, and what is more, the designers had to deal with the lack of appropriate engines. This resulted in (unlike on Harry) the use of one main engine used during the flight and two engines enabling vertical take-off and landing. Several development versions were created in the course of serial production. The first one (Yak-38U) was a training and training version, with a two-person cabin. In 1982, a version of the Yak-38M was created, which had more powerful engines, a slightly changed hull structure and higher lifting capacity compared to the original version. The assessment of the Yak-38 machine is very difficult. On the one hand, due to the avant-garde nature of the entire structure, it was highly emergency, had a small radius of action and a low lifting capacity of an outboard weapon, as well as the lack of an on-board radar. On the other hand, it was one of the two mass-produced V / STOL aircraft in the world and increased the potential of the Soviet Navy. However, it by no means stood up to the comparison with the American airplanes of the time, it was also less maneuverable and more emergency than Harrier. The Yakovlev Yak-38 was not exported, and this type of aircraft was withdrawn from service by 1992.