Soviet V/STOL Jet Fighter/Attack Concepts of the 20th Century

Since the advent of the helicopter, aviation designers have struggled to develop a practical concept that could combine the vertical take-off and landing capabilities of the helicopter with the high-speed forward flight capability of a fixed-wing aircraft. As well as developing the world's only other (besides the Harrier) operational vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) fighter aircraft - the Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger - the Soviet Union was also responsible for a plethora of jet-powered fighter/attack designs throughout the 20th Century. Numerous concepts - ranging from design studies to the world's first modern supersonic V/STOL fighter (the Yak-41) - are catalogued here. The paper chronicles the trials and tribulations of developing operationally viable V/STOL fighter/attack concepts. This paper is the eleventh in a series compiling V/STOL aircraft projects of the Twentieth Century.