Aviation / Aerospace

Yakovlev Yak-30

Jet-Powered Interceptor Prototype Aircraft [ 1948 ]

The swept-wing Yakovlev Yak-30 jet-powered interceptor prototype was a further evolution of the abandoned straight-wing Yak-25 design of 1947.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 03/16/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Like the global powers of the West during the Cold War decades, the Soviet Union moved on rapid testing and development of many jet-powered aircraft. After World War 2 - a war which witnessed the apex of prop-powered fighters - the turbojet engine became firmly entrenched as the next propulsion system of choice for military fighters and bombers and engineers on all sides raced against the clock in an attempt to mate the still-infant technology with a perfected high speed frame. Yakovlev OKB, founded prior to the war in 1934, was one of the power players in the Soviet defense industry during this period, joining stalwarts Mikoyan-Gurevich, Lavochkin, and Sukhoi in the race against the West.

In 1947, Soviet engineers at Yakovlev OKB revealed their Yak-25 interceptor prototype - a straight-winged aircraft with single vertical tail fin, high-mounted horizontal tailplanes, and a forward-set cockpit. The aircraft was intended to compete with designs being offered to the Soviet Air Force from Mikoyan-Gurevich and Lavochkin. The single turbojet engine was aspirated through the nose and was nothing more than a Rolls-Royce "Derwent" V centrifugal compressor-based system of 3,500lbf thrust output. First flight of this aircraft was on November 2nd, 1947 with testing lasted until July of the following year.

While performance of the Yakolev offering proved excellent for the period, it lacked high speed stability due to its use of a straight wing mainplane arrangement - severe buffeting being the result. A new tail unit failed to alleviate the issue and the competing design by Mikoyan-Gurevich - to become the famous MiG-15 - was selected ahead of all others. While this ultimately led to a stoppage on the Yak-25 product per se, work continued on what would become the "Yak-30" .

To compete with the swept-back wing submissions from Mikoyan-Gurevich and Lavochkin (the La-15) an endeavor arose that attempted to see the Yak-25 fitted with swept-back wings herself. The resulting aircraft featured the same general design layout of the Yak-25 but its wing mainplanes now featured 35-degree sweepback. Boundary layer fences were prominent along the dorsal face and, underwing, external fuel tanks were carried (early turbojets were thirsty systems limiting operational ranges). The aircraft carried over the same tubular fuselage of the Yak-25 as well as the open nose section that was used to aspirate the Derwent turbojet within (the copy of the British engine was the "RD-500" and manufactured (illegally) by Klimov OKB). The pilot sat in a cockpit at front with generally good views out of the provided canopy that featured framing only along its forward panels. The tricycle undercarriage was wholly retractable. The engine exhausted through a circular jetpipe under the tail with the tail unit itself made up of a single vertical fin with mid-mounted horizontal planes. In several ways, the Yak-30 mimicked many of the design lines adopted by both the Mikoyan-Gurevich (in their classic MiG-15 fighter) and Lavochkin (in their La-15).

NOTE: The "Yak-30"designation, while used in this ultimately abandoned Soviet jet program, was resurrected down the road in 1960 for yet another Yakovlev product - this being the Yak-30 "Magnum" jet-powered trainer of which four were constructed. The two products have no direct link between them.

The Klimov RD-500 turbojet engine developed upwards of 3,505lbf thrust output which provided a maximum speed of 636 miles per hour, a range out to 1,068 miles, a service ceiling of 49,215 feet, and a rate-of-climb of 8,070 feet per minute. In comparison, the MiG-15 (MiG-15bis mark) received 6,000lbf thrust output from its Klimov VK-1 turbojet and reached speeds of 658 miles per hour, a range out to 770 miles, operated at a service ceiling of 50,855 feet, and sported a rate-of-climb of 10,080 feet per minute.

Proposed armament for the Yak-30 was to be 3 x 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 autocannons with 75 rounds to a gun.

Two Yak-30 prototypes were realized from the now-stillborn Yak-25 program. First flight of the initial model was recorded on September 4th, 1948 though it was the second prototype that incorporated far more beneficial changes such as Fowler-type flaps (replacing the original split arrangement), air brakes, and revised landing gear door panels. Onboard systems were also improved as was internal volume. The Yak-30 proved faster and only slightly heavier than its forerunner but, unfortunately for Yakovlev engineers, the sweptback mainplanes persisted in being problematic at the speeds required.

Due to the official adoption of the MiG-15 into the Soviet Air Force inventory, the Yak-30 was not under any real consideration to find similar favor by the service. It was left to essentially live out its days as a data collection / research platform exploring various aeronautical fields including that of sweptback wings and turbojet propulsion. The program was eventually terminated in its own time after the usefulness of the product had been met. Only the two prototype Yak-30 aircraft were ever completed. In comparison, over 18,000 MiG-15s were produced and 235 of the Lavochkin La-15 were also taken on. Both were introduced in 1949.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1948

Origin

Soviet Union

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

1

Production

2
UNITS

Yakovlev OKB - Soviet Union

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Soviet Union

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

✓ Interception
Ability to intercept inbound aerial threats by way of high-performance, typically speed and rate-of-climb.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

29.1 ft
(8.86 m)

Width/Span

28.4 ft
(8.65 m)

Empty Wgt

5,324 lb
(2,415 kg)

MTOW

8,003 lb
(3,630 kg)

Wgt Diff

+2,679 lb
(+1,215 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Yakovlev Yak-30 production variant)

Installed: 1 x Klimov RD-500 (Rolls-Royce Dervent Mk.V) turbofan engine developing 3,505lb of thrust.

Max Speed

637 mph
(1,025 kph | 553 kts)

Ceiling

49,213 ft
(15,000 m | 9 mi)

Range

1,069 mi
(1,720 km | 3,185 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

2,460 ft/min
(750 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Yakovlev Yak-30 production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

PROPOSED:
3 x 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannons in nose.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

Yak-30 - Base Series Designation; initial prototype (of two).

Yak-30D - Second prototype; Fowler flaps; revised undercarriage door; increased internal volume; airbrakes; improved onboard systems.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.