The Yakovlev Yak-28 is a jet bomber designed by the USSR in the late 1950s. Approximately 700 units were built in various versions also intended for interception, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, or training.

After World War II, the Yakovlev OKB had found a niche for producing long-range, multi-role airframes that could be tailored to meet specific missions in much the same way that the Luftwaffe adapted its larger twin-engined airframes. One of the first such aircraft was the Yak-25 which was a twin-engined, swept-wing design that was produced in interceptor, bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare variants.

While the aircraft was very successful during its service in the late 1950s/early 1960s, its mid-mounted wing resulted in the engine pods being in close proximity to the ground and being subjected to foreign object damage (FOD).

 

Once the Yak-25 was in service, the Yakovlev OKB looked at the next generation of multi-role airframe and the Yak-28 series was created. The Yak-28 was larger, faster, and featured shoulder-mounted swept wings reducing the engines’ susceptibility to FOD. The engines were R-11 afterburning turbojets, the same engine that powered the early MiG-21s. The most common versions of the Yak-28 seen in front-line service were the Yak-28R (NATO Codename: Brewer D) reconnaissance variant, Yak-28PP (NATO Codename: Brewer E) electronic warfare variant, and the Yak-28P Firebar interceptor. While the Yak-28R and Yak-28PP served with the air armies of Frontal Aviation, the Yak-28P served with PVO (Soviet Air Defense) to primarily protect the vast northern and eastern frontiers.

 

While intercept radars were increasing in capability in the 1960s, the size and weight of these systems still required installation on larger twin-engined aircraft. The radar was designed to guide a newer air-to-air missile, the R-98 (NATO Codename: AA-3 Anab). The R-98 was one of the first to be produced with either a radar-guidance or infrared seeker.

 

One of the other unique design aspects of the Yak-28 that carried over from the Yak-25 was the bicycle (tandem) main landing gear with retractable outrigger gear. This is the same landing gear arrangement as the B-47 Stratojet and the U-2 (though the latter didn’t keep the outriggers after take-off). While the Yak-28 series would serve into the 1970s, the aircraft would be the last design from the Yakovlev OKB to serve in the Soviet Air Force.

 

 

Source : Hobby model bazaar