Manufacturer Yakovlev | ||
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The Yakovlev Yak-43 was a Soviet VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) fighter designed as a successor to the ill-fated Yakovlev Yak-141M, which failed to reach production. Like the Yak-141M, the Yak-43 was also not produced. The Yak-43 was to have been the third-generation VTOL/STOL fighter, to follow and eventually replace the Yak-141M.
Design and development
Like the Yak-141, the Yak-43 would have had only a single main engine, as well as two dedicated vertical-lift engines. The main engine would have been based on the Samara NK-321 three-shaft augmented turbofan with a takeoff rating of 24,980 kg (55,077 lb). This same engine is used to power the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack bomber. The engine would have had a large air bleed leading to an auxiliary combustion chamber located in the nose, though a separate lift jet would have been retained.
