Yak-38M Strike fighter with VTOL

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NATO reporting name:  Forger
VTOL: Vertical Take-off and Landing (Aircraft)

The development of a new aircraft OKB. AS Yakovlev began in 1968. The aircraft received the name of the development of the Yak-38M. It was designed to engage surface ships, at use at aircraft carriers with a minimum length of 180 m. 

From mid-May 1970, ground hovering tests began at the LII airfield, and on September 22, 1970, test pilot V. Mukhin performed the first free hover on this aircraft on high a hith meter from the ground.

In 1971, flight tests began. The Yak-36M made its first flight from the deck of the anti-submarine cruiser Moskva in 1977.

In 1975, the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) Yak-36M attack aircraft entered service with the naval aviation of the USSR Navy under the new name Yak-38.

In 1983, a new version of the aircraft, the Yak-38M, was created and tested.

The aircraft had a short combat radius. On the ground and aircraft-carrying ships, a large amount of testing was carried out (LII and Design Bureau) on the use of progressive short takeoff and landing techniques "like an airplane", which led to an increase in the payload.
LII test pilots O. Kononenko, V. Nazaryan, L. Lobas, A. Krutov, V. Zabolotsky and others were actively working.

At the end of the 1980s, a decision was made to remove the Yak-38 and Yak-38M aircraft from the ships of the Navy, which were not equipped with external tanks.

The combat effectiveness of the aircraft was insufficient. Work was started, and in return, a new supersonic multi-role vertical and short takeoff and landing fighter Yak-141 was created.

1 PVD-18G main pitot  2 Reserve pitot  3 Zvezda K-36VM zero-zero ejection seat  4 Lift engine intake scoop with suction relief doors  5 Spring loaded suction relief doors (close)  6 Upper fuselage strakes / anti-recirculation fences  7 Single-point pressure refuelling connector acces door  8 Main engine bay coding air scoop  9 ARK-15M ADF omnidirectional strake aerial  10 Technological connector (Frame №29) 11 GM-40 mechanism air inlet (vectoring nozzle)  12 Heat exchanger exhaust grille  13 RSIU short wave ground control system aerials  14 Antenna VHF R860-1  15 Radome radar warning station “Bereza”  16 Rear reaction control nozzle  17 Lift / cruise engine vectoring nozzle (R-27V-300)  18 Wing fold hinge joint  19 UV-32M rocket pack  20 Lower fuselage strakes/anti-recirculation fences  21 Lift engine RD-36-35BF exhaust doors  22  Man engine air intake auxiliary inlet doors  23 Air intake  24 Nose reaction control nozzle  25 RSBN-36 shoran receiver aerial  26 Dielectric nosecone.

Technical specifications