The Yakovlev Yak-201 was a planned Russian

vertical takeoff and landing A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing ...

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology ** Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Ste ...

fighter/

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...

aircraft for the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

, as a follow-up to the

Yak-141 The Yakovlev Yak-141 (; NATO reporting name "Freestyle"), also known as the Yak-41, is a Soviet supersonic vertical takeoff/landing (VTOL) fighter aircraft designed by Yakovlev. Intended as a replacement for the Yak-38, it was designed as a su ...

and Yak-43 aircraft. The design was carried out in the mid-1990s

Yakovlev Design Bureau The JSC A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau () is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer (design office prefix Yak). Its head office is in Aeroport District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow. It is a subsidiary of Yakovlev Corporation. Ove ...

. The project was cancelled and no prototype was built due to a lack of funds and interest by the

Russian Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the forces ...

Development

The design was started on an initiative basis by the Yakovlev bureau officers in the mid-1990s to allow the

aircraft carriers to operate state-of-the-art

aircraft. After the

and Yak-43 were developed, the engineers from the Yakovlev Design Bureau proceeded to the Yak-201. In 1996–1997, the aircraft was offered to the customer, but the project remained unclaimed, primarily for financial reasons, and also due to the lack of certainty of the Russian Ministry of Defense under the LFI program. No full size mock-up nor prototype were built. On 23 November 2017, it was reported that Yakovlev would be the designer to build a

aircraft to be used on the future Russian aircraft carrier, such as the Project 2300 Shtorm or Project 11430E Lamantin carrier proposals. It may or may not be based on the Yak-201. Yakolvev might built a new

fighter for the two 44,000-ton Project 23900 Ivan Rogov amphibious assault ships currently under construction.

Design

The aircraft was supposed to differ from

/ Yak-43 by an increased range, a single engine and stealth characteristics. The aircraft is made according to the traditional scheme with two-tails, and a large angle of inclination. The plane is relatively stealthy, as it is made unobtrusive with few right angles. According to preliminary data from the bureau, the interceptor fighter was supposed to have only one pilot. The design was for a single lift-propulsion motor with a mechanical drive to a lifting fan installed behind the cockpit. The nozzle of the main engine was supposed to be vectorable. Flat and round nozzle options were considered. The ability to change the thrust vector makes the aircraft supermanoeuvrable. The armament was to be placed in an internal weapon bay inside the fuselage. The aircraft was expected to reach a speed of 1,250 km/h near the ground, and 1,800 km/h at altitude. The practical ceiling for the Yak-201 is 15,000 m. Among the armament, it was decided to use a GSh-301 rifle cannon with 120 rounds of ammunition, and to install air-to-air type

R-77 The Vympel NPO R-77 missile (NATO reporting name: AA-12 Adder) is a Russian active radar homing beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. It is also known by its export designation RVV-AE. It is the Russian counterpart to the American AIM-120 AMR ...

long-range or medium-range at four points of suspension. The installation of short-range missiles R-73 and R-60 and NAR units with a caliber of up to 240 mm were worked out.

Specifications (Yak-201)

References

{{Yakovlev aircraft Yakovlev aircraft VTOL aircraft 1990s Russian fighter aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of Russia

Development

Design

Specifications (Yak-201)

See also

References