KAZT4805 Yak-41M (Yak-141)
The Yakovlev Yak-41 (aka Yak-141; NATO: Freestyle) was a supersonic vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, designed to replace the Yak-38 “Forger”. The Soviet Navy signed a contract with Yakovlev Design Bureau in 1975 to build a supersonic aircraft with only one mission: air defense of the fleet.
Initially designed as Yak-41 (and as Yak-41M since 1991), Yakovlev obtained funds to build four prototypes, the first one was a numberless bare airframe for static and fatigue testing. Unfortunately for Yakovlev, in 1991, due the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Navy had no more funds to keep the Yak-41 program alive, and cancelled it.
Yakovlev then, decides to look for a foreign partner to continue the development of the Yak-41, and present their aircraft in the Farnborough Airshow of 1992, changing the designation of both, Yak-41s 75 & 77, for 141 (with different fonts), being the former serial 75 the one showed in Farnborough.
Lockheed decided to fund the program of the now designated Yak-141, giving Yakovlev funds between $385-$400 million dollars to build three new prototypes to keep their VTOL (vertical takeoff/landing) program alive, in return of the performance data and limited design data of the Yak-141.
We haven’t find official info of what happened later, but is possible that, as Yakovlev was acquired by Irkut in 2004, and later, Irkut, Mikoyan, Ilyushin, Sukhoi, Tupolev and Yakovlev were merged in 2006 by the Russian government to form the United Aircraft Corporation, this stopped the development of those three prototypes.
3D printed model kit of
Scale 1:48 only
Also includes Aztec Models Decal to build one among five versions
First ten kits at introduction price
Shippings start on April 10th