The Yakovlev Yak-38 'Forger' was a carrier-based combat aircraft in service with the Soviet Navy from 1976 to 1991. It was the only vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft the Soviet Union used in operational service, during the Cold War. The Yak-141, also a VTOL aircraft which first flew in 1987, would only be used for flight tests. Operating from the Kiev class carriers, the Yak-38 was Moscow's equivalent to the famous Sea Harrier, which was employed in the Falklands War. This combat airplane was a further development from the Yak-36.
The prototype VM01 made its maiden flight on June 10, 1971, with satisfactory result. However, the tests and sea trials would go on for five years as the aircraft would finally enter service on July 27, 1976. Yakovlev would produce a total of 232 Yak-38 aircraft, with 16 of them being lost in crashes. The main mission of this Soviet VTOL naval warplane was to ward off NATO maritime patrol and strike aircraft, such as the P-3 Orion and the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod. It saw combat action, in the ground-attack role, in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Technical Characteristics
The Yakovlev Yak-38 was a single-seat, VTOL, carrier-borne monoplane. It was fitted with cropped-delta mid-wing, with anhedral angle (downward inclination), and an all-metal fuselage. For the vertical take-off from carrier deck, the aircraft used two smaller engines, which were mounted in the front section of fuselage immediately behind the cockpit. For the forward flight thrust and propulsion, it was powered by one Tumansky R28 V-300 turbofan engine, which could deliver 15,000 pounds of thrust. Aside from the two engine air intakes located at the sides of fuselage, the Yak-38 had a third much smaller air intake on top of the dorsal part of fuselage at the base of the fin; this was used to redirect cooling air into the aircraft's rear electronic bay.
Specifrications
Type: carrier-based fighter/strike aircraft
Length: 15.50 m (50 feet, 10 inches)
Wing Span: 7.32 m (24 feet)
Wing Area: 18.50 m2 (199 square feet)
Height: 4.37 m (14 feet, 4 inches)
Power Plant: one 15,000-lb-thrust Tumansky R28 V-300 turbofan engine; two Koliesov RD-36-35FVR jet engines, delivering 7,200-lb of vertical thrust.
Maximum Speed: 1,009 km/h (627 mph)
Combat Radius: 370 km (230 miles)
Ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 feet)
Armament: one 23-mm GSh-23L cannon; two Kh-23 Grom air-to-surface missiles; four AA-8 Aphid air-to-air missiles; 2,000 kg of bombs.
Below, the Yak-38 taking off vertically from the deck of aircraft.
Historical footage of the Yakolev Yak-38 operating from the deck of a Kiev class carrier (video).
Below, the Soviet VTOL aircraft parked at a land naval base in the 1980s.
Below, you can see the Yak-38 hovering in the air, with the lift engine intake door open just behind the cockpit, with the jet stirring the sea water beneath.
