{"id":1702031,"date":"2026-06-11T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=1702031"},"modified":"2026-06-12T08:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T06:17:09","slug":"yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\nIn 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world&#8217;s first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union was gone, the program was dead, and Yakovlev was broke. Then Lockheed Martin came calling \u2014 and parts of the Yak-141&#8217;s design DNA ended up in the most expensive weapons program in history: the F-35B Lightning II.\n\nThe connection between a failed Soviet prototype and America&#8217;s fifth-generation stealth fighter is one of the Cold War&#8217;s strangest epilogues. It is also one of the most overstated stories in aviation. The truth is more nuanced than either &#8220;Lockheed copied the Yak-141&#8221; or &#8220;there is no connection at all.&#8221;\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f4f4f4;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:28px 0;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.7\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">\u2708 Quick Facts<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px\">\n<li><strong>Yak-141 first flight:<\/strong> March 9, 1987 (conventional); first VTOL hover: December 29, 1989<\/li>\n<li><strong>Supersonic VTOL first:<\/strong> Achieved Mach 1.04 in level flight \u2014 world first for a VTOL jet<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engine:<\/strong> R-79V-300 vectoring-thrust turbofan (34,170 lbf with afterburner) + 2x RD-41 lift jets<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lockheed-Yakovlev agreement:<\/strong> 1991, reportedly worth $385\u2013400 million<\/li>\n<li><strong>Shared feature:<\/strong> Three-bearing swivel nozzle (3BSN) concept<\/li>\n<li><strong>F-35B first flight:<\/strong> June 2008; first vertical landing: March 2010<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yak-141 built:<\/strong> 4 prototypes (2 lost in accidents)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Soviet VTOL Problem<\/h2>\n\nThe Soviet Union spent decades trying to crack vertical take-off for combat aircraft. The Yak-38 Forger \u2014 the USSR&#8217;s only operational VTOL fighter \u2014 was a disappointment: subsonic, short-ranged, payload-limited, and notoriously dangerous to fly. It served on Kiev-class aircraft carriers more as a political statement than a serious weapon.\n\nYakovlev&#8217;s answer was the Yak-141 (NATO reporting name: Freestyle). The design was ambitious: a supersonic, radar-equipped combat aircraft capable of vertical take-off from short-deck carriers, with performance approaching conventional fighters.\n\nThe key innovation was the propulsion system. The Yak-141 used a single Soyuz\/Khatchaturov R-79V-300 main engine in the rear with a rotating thrust-vectoring nozzle that could direct exhaust downward for vertical flight, plus two smaller RD-41 lift jets behind the cockpit for additional vertical thrust. This &#8220;lift plus lift\/cruise&#8221; arrangement gave the aircraft both VTOL capability and supersonic performance \u2014 something no Western design had achieved.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Brief, Brilliant Career<\/h2>\n\nThe Yak-141 set twelve FAI world records for VTOL aircraft in April 1991, including time-to-altitude records that still stand. It was genuinely fast \u2014 Mach 1.04 in level flight \u2014 and could carry a meaningful weapons load of 2,600 kg on six hardpoints.\n\nBut the program was doomed. The Soviet economy was collapsing. On October 5, 1991, the second prototype crashed during a vertical landing on the carrier Admiral Gorshkov when the pilot descended too fast and the nozzle struck the deck, rupturing a fuel tank. The pilot ejected safely, but the aircraft was destroyed.\n\nTwo months later, the Soviet Union dissolved. Funding evaporated. Yakovlev had a supersonic VTOL fighter that worked \u2014 and no country to buy it.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Lockheed Connection<\/h2>\n\nThis is where the story gets contested. What is documented: Lockheed Martin and Yakovlev entered into a cooperative agreement in 1991, reportedly involving a payment of $385\u2013400 million from Lockheed to Yakovlev. The agreement gave Lockheed access to Yak-141 design data and test results.\n\nAt the time, Lockheed was competing for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) contract \u2014 the program that would become the F-35. The STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) variant was a critical requirement, and Lockheed needed a viable approach to vectored thrust for vertical landing.\n\nWhat is debated: how much of the Yak-141&#8217;s technology actually influenced the F-35B&#8217;s design. The most visible connection is the three-bearing swivel nozzle (3BSN) \u2014 the mechanism that redirects the main engine&#8217;s exhaust downward for vertical operations. Both the Yak-141 and F-35B use a similar concept, and Lockheed&#8217;s access to Yakovlev&#8217;s nozzle data is well-documented.\n\n<div style=\"background:linear-gradient(135deg,#f8f9ff 0%,#eef1ff 100%);border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:22px 26px;margin:32px 0;border-radius:0 10px 10px 0\"><p style=\"font-size:17px;line-height:1.6;color:#333;margin:0 0 12px;font-style:italic\">Lockheed Martin has acknowledged the cooperative agreement with Yakovlev and access to Yak-141 data. Former Lockheed engineer Paul Bevilaqua, who led the JSF propulsion design, has stated that while the 3BSN concept was studied, the F-35B&#8217;s shaft-driven lift fan system was an independent American innovation with no Soviet precedent.<\/p><p style=\"margin:0;font-weight:600;color:#1565c0;font-size:14px\">\u2014 Based on published interviews with Paul Bevilaqua, Lockheed Martin<\/p><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Was and Wasn&#8217;t Borrowed<\/h2>\n\nThe honest assessment: the Yak-141&#8217;s three-bearing swivel nozzle concept likely influenced the F-35B&#8217;s rear nozzle design. The fundamental engineering challenge \u2014 redirecting a high-thrust turbofan&#8217;s exhaust from horizontal to vertical \u2014 is the same, and Lockheed had paid for access to Yakovlev&#8217;s solutions.\n\nHowever, the F-35B&#8217;s overall propulsion architecture is fundamentally different from the Yak-141&#8217;s. The Yak-141 used dedicated lift jets \u2014 separate engines that only ran during vertical flight, adding dead weight in forward flight. The F-35B replaced these with a shaft-driven lift fan: a large fan in the forward fuselage, mechanically driven by the main engine through a clutch and driveshaft. This was a novel approach with no Soviet equivalent.\n\nThe lift fan was Bevilaqua&#8217;s key contribution. It eliminated the need for separate lift engines, reduced exhaust gas temperatures (critical for deck operations), and provided more balanced thrust distribution. It was genuinely new engineering, not a copy of anything in the Yak-141.\n\nSo the internet claim that &#8220;the F-35B is a copy of the Yak-141&#8221; is wrong. But the claim that &#8220;there is zero connection&#8221; is also wrong. The truth lives in between: Lockheed studied and learned from the Yak-141, particularly regarding the rear nozzle, but the F-35B&#8217;s overall propulsion system is a different and more sophisticated design.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Yak-141&#8217;s Real Legacy<\/h2>\n\nThe Yak-141 deserves recognition on its own terms, independent of the F-35 debate. It was the world&#8217;s first supersonic VTOL combat aircraft \u2014 a genuine engineering achievement that arrived at exactly the wrong moment in history. Had the Soviet Union survived another decade, the Yak-141 might have entered service and proven the concept of supersonic V\/STOL operations at sea.\n\nInstead, it became a footnote and a debate topic. The four prototypes ended up in museums and scrapyards. The engineers who designed them scattered. And the technology they developed took a circuitous route from a collapsing superpower&#8217;s design bureau to the world&#8217;s most expensive fighter program.\n\n<em>Sources: &#8220;Yakovlev Yak-141&#8221; by Yefim Gordon (Midland Publishing), Paul Bevilaqua interviews (Code One Magazine, AIAA), Janes All the World&#8217;s Aircraft, FAI record database<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world&#8217;s first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union was gone, the program was dead, and Yakovlev was broke. Then Lockheed Martin came calling \u2014 and parts of the Yak-141&#8217;s design DNA ended up in the most expensive weapons program [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":1701874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1702031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world&#039;s first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B | MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world&#039;s first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T09:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T06:17:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"572\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Max Gr\u00fcnwald\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Max Gr\u00fcnwald\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Max Gr\u00fcnwald\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e08e79cb0e942ed72190e62d1a936af6\"},\"headline\":\"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T09:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-12T06:17:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1029,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\",\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B | MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T09:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-12T06:17:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e08e79cb0e942ed72190e62d1a936af6\"},\"description\":\"In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world's first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":572,\"caption\":\"Yakovlev Yak-141 VTOL Soviet fighter at Farnborough 1992\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e08e79cb0e942ed72190e62d1a936af6\",\"name\":\"Max Gr\u00fcnwald\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a7af37924a5c24d0712babd0e5eafec09d37b3a41831dd4c4ee30f54ebfc1a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a7af37924a5c24d0712babd0e5eafec09d37b3a41831dd4c4ee30f54ebfc1a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4a7af37924a5c24d0712babd0e5eafec09d37b3a41831dd4c4ee30f54ebfc1a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Max Gr\u00fcnwald\"},\"description\":\"Max brings German precision to every article he writes. A former aerospace engineering student from Munich, he traded the workshop for the keyboard but never lost his obsession with technical detail. His articles are the ones you read when you want to know exactly how something works \u2014 no fluff, no hype, just the facts delivered with quiet authority.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/author\\\/maxgruenwald\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B | MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world's first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B | MiGFlug.com Blog","og_description":"In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world's first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/","og_site_name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","article_published_time":"2026-06-11T09:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-12T06:17:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":572,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Max Gr\u00fcnwald","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Max Gr\u00fcnwald","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/"},"author":{"name":"Max Gr\u00fcnwald","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/e08e79cb0e942ed72190e62d1a936af6"},"headline":"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B","datePublished":"2026-06-11T09:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-12T06:17:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/"},"wordCount":1029,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends","Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/","name":"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B | MiGFlug.com Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-11T09:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-12T06:17:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/e08e79cb0e942ed72190e62d1a936af6"},"description":"In 1991, the Yakovlev Yak-141 became the world's first supersonic VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) fighter to fly. Four years later, the Soviet Union","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/yakovlev-yak-141-vtol-soviet-fighter.jpg","width":960,"height":572,"caption":"Yakovlev Yak-141 VTOL Soviet fighter at Farnborough 1992"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/yak-141-soviet-vtol-fighter-f35b-lockheed-three-bearing-nozzle\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Yak-141: The Soviet VTOL Fighter That Helped Shape the F-35B"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/e08e79cb0e942ed72190e62d1a936af6","name":"Max Gr\u00fcnwald","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a7af37924a5c24d0712babd0e5eafec09d37b3a41831dd4c4ee30f54ebfc1a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a7af37924a5c24d0712babd0e5eafec09d37b3a41831dd4c4ee30f54ebfc1a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4a7af37924a5c24d0712babd0e5eafec09d37b3a41831dd4c4ee30f54ebfc1a7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Max Gr\u00fcnwald"},"description":"Max brings German precision to every article he writes. A former aerospace engineering student from Munich, he traded the workshop for the keyboard but never lost his obsession with technical detail. His articles are the ones you read when you want to know exactly how something works \u2014 no fluff, no hype, just the facts delivered with quiet authority.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/author\/maxgruenwald\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1816648,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702031\/revisions\/1816648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1701874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}