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It's hard to imagine a slightly earlier Yak-141 making much more of an impact.It would certainly have replaced the Yak-38 on the four Kievs but the larger Riga/Ulyanovsk classes had long been planned since the 1970s. As it was there was already a choice between the Su-33 and MiG-29K and the Soviets pointedly chose the Su-33 for its superior air defence capability while the multi-role MiG-29K ended up in Indian service.So that gives the Indians a MiG-29K/Yak-141 decision when they purchase Baku. Much would depend on cost and reliability I guess as well as capability and here the MiG-29K would probably still offer the better capability.I thought Lockheed's interest was in the Yak-143 - which seems to be a very elusive project?
It's hard to imagine a slightly earlier Yak-141 making much more of an impact.
It would certainly have replaced the Yak-38 on the four Kievs but the larger Riga/Ulyanovsk classes had long been planned since the 1970s. As it was there was already a choice between the Su-33 and MiG-29K and the Soviets pointedly chose the Su-33 for its superior air defence capability while the multi-role MiG-29K ended up in Indian service.
So that gives the Indians a MiG-29K/Yak-141 decision when they purchase Baku. Much would depend on cost and reliability I guess as well as capability and here the MiG-29K would probably still offer the better capability.
I thought Lockheed's interest was in the Yak-143 - which seems to be a very elusive project?
