Yakovlev Yak-27

The Yakovlev Yak-27, NATO reporting name Flashlight-C, is a family of Soviet supersonic aircraft developed in 1958 from the Yak-121 prototype as a successor to the Yak-25 family. The Yak-27 and Yak-27K interceptors, armed with guns and K-8 missiles, met their requirements but were overtaken by the Sukhoi Su-9, so production was not authorised. A high-altitude interceptor, the Yak-27V, added a rocket booster and reached 23,000 metres, but development stopped over maintenance problems with the rocket. The most built variant was the tactical reconnaissance Yak-27R, called Mangrove, with a glazed nose for an observer.