Sukhoi Su-15 and Yakovlev Yak-38: Russia's Forgotten Fighters

Though not quite a household name like MiG (Mikoyan-Gurevich), Sukhoi and Yakovlev are nonetheless famous names in the annals of Soviet/Russian military aircraft production history.

Sukhoi Design Bureau was founded by Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi (July 22, 1895-September 15, 1975), while Yakovlev Design Bureau was founded in 1934 by Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev (April 1, 1906-August 22, 1989). Yakovlev is described by former Sunday Times of London reporter Russell Miller in his 1983 book The Soviet Air Force at War as “known as a lover of speedy cars, fast women, strong spirits—and the sports little airplanes he had designed during peacetimes.”

Among these two companies’ most famous warbirds are the Su-27 (NATO reporting name “Flanker“) fourth-generation jet fighter and the piston-engine prop-driven Yak-3 fighter plane of World War II. However, you won’t be reading about either one of those planes right here and now. Instead, we will shine the spotlight on two of the firms’ lesser-known Cold War fighters, the Su-15 and the Yak-36.

Sukhoi Su-15 Brief History and Specifications

The Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name “Flagon”) made her maiden flight on May 30, 1962, and officially entered into operational service with the Soviet Air Defense Forces in 1965. According to Russell Miller, “Though smaller than the MiG-25 [“Foxbat”], the missile-armed fighter boasts a 1,650 mph [Mach 2.15; 2,655.4 km/h; 1,433 kn] speed coupled with a climb rate of 45,000 feet per minute [228 meters per second].”

Those aforementioned missiles were two K-8 (NATO reporting name AA-3 “Anab”) medium-range air-to-air missiles and two Vympel R-60 (NATO reporting name: AA-8 “Aphid“) short-range infrared missiles, backed up by two 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L autocannons.

The Su-15 was designed as an interceptor, intended to kill NATO bombers such as the American B-52 Stratofortress and Britain’s Avro Vulcan, as well as spy planes such as the U-2 “Dragon Lady.” The Flagon never ended up fighting any of these adversaries. That said, Su-15s did reportedly shoot down five reconnaissance balloons sent to spy on Soviet territory in 1975. Moreover, the warbird twice made history in a very ignominious and tragic manner.

For starters, as Sebastien Roblin reported for War Is Boring in April 2017:

“On March 27, 1968, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin—the first man to travel in outer space—flew on a training flight near Moscow with instructor Vladimir Seryogin in a two-seat MiG-15UTI … At around 2,000 feet the MiG abruptly entered a spin and smashed into the ground, killing both aviators … [I]n 2013, fellow cosmonaut Alexey Leonov revealed that a hot rodding Su-15 test pilot had dived from his authorized altitude of over 30,000 feet above the training area. The interceptor’s afterburners trailed a fiery plume behind it as it broke the sound barrier while passing within 20 meters of Gagarin. The backwash from the Flagon’s passage flipped Gagarin’s MiG into a fatal spin with too little altitude to recover.”

As tragic as that incident was, at least it was accidental. The second incident in question was a hostile fire incident (and some considered to be outright cold-blooded midair murder): it was a Su-15 that shot down Korea Airlines Flight 007 (KAL007) on September 1, 1983, killing all 269 passengers and crew aboard, including U.S. congressman Larry McDonald.

A total of 1,290 airframes were built between 1965 and 1979.

Yakovlev Yak-38 Brief History and Specifications

The Yak-38 (NATO reporting name “Forger”) made her maiden flight on January 15, 1971, and entered into official operational service with Soviet Naval Aviation on August 11, 1978, According to Miller, “Though less advanced than the British VTOL [Vertical Take-Off and Landing] Sea Harriers of Falklands fame, the Yak-36 [sic] gave the Soviet Navy its first shipborne aerial attack capability.”

The “Forger” was developed specifically for, and served almost exclusively on, the Soviet Navy’s four Kiev-class (AKA Project 1143 Krechyet) aircraft carriers (or “heavy aircraft cruisers” as the Soviet Navy officially classified them). The warbird never saw actual combat; however, a pair of Forgers operating from Minsk intercepted aircraft from the U.S. Navy carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) over the Arabian Sea on 16 December 1982, thus marking the first time Soviet VTOL aircraft intercepted American warplanes while armed with missiles.

The plane’s missile arsenal consisted of two anti-ship or air-to-surface Kh-23 (AS-7 Kerry) missiles along with two of the aforementioned Aphids.” The warbird also packed a GSh-23L gun pod. Max airspeed was Mach 0.84 (650 mph; 1,050 km/h; 570 kn).

A total of 231 airframes were built between 1975 and 1981.

Where Are They Now?

Though most of the Su-15s were scrapped in favor of the MiG-31 “Foxhound” and the aforementioned Su-27 “Flanker,” there are reportedly a few “Flagons” being kept in reserve storage for emergency use.

There are two Yak-38s on display at Russia’s Central Air Force Museum, in Moscow Oblast (14 miles [23 kilometers] east of the city of Moscow proper).

As for the Kiev-class carriers for which the Yak-38 was made, only one of them, the former Baku, survives today; she’s now known as the INS (Indian Navy Ship) Vikramaditya, having acquired that moniker after being sold to the Indian Navy in 2004 and recommissioned in 2013.

NOTE: Though Miller incorrectly refers to the Yak-38 as the “Yak-36,” there *was* in fact a Yak-36 “Freehand,” which was an experimental VTOL predecessor to the Forger that made her own maiden flight in January 1963. Only four were built, but one of them is also preserved for posterity at that same Central Air Force Museum.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for the National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).

Image Credit: Creative Commons.