Yakovlev Yak-38

The Yakovlev Yak-38, with the NATO reporting name Forger, was the only operational VTOL strike aircraft of Soviet Naval Aviation and its first operational carrier-based fixed-wing aircraft. It was built for the Kiev-class aircraft carriers and served almost exclusively on them. The first drawings showed a supersonic aircraft resembling the British Hawker P.1154, but the design was limited to Mach 0.95 to keep development simple. Although it grew out of the Yak-36, the two shared almost nothing. A vectored-thrust engine at the rear was used in flight, and two small lift engines in the forward fuselage were used only for takeoff and landing. The prototype was finished in April 1970, the first production model flew on 15 January 1971, and 143 Yak-38s were produced.