Fueled by the idea I had of Americans buying Russian planes to fill gaps till new generations are designed, I set out to do some research to see if this is not already happening discretly. Surprise surprise, our new JSF is to a big percent a Russian fighter.
Its not a direct copy of a Russian plane like some of the stuff they "made", but Lockheed did pay Yakovlev for information and designs to ge the JSF project off the ground. And after they liked what they bought, they simply said "wtf, no one will find out if we buy more.. besides, Boeing model is looking better everyday, we HAVE to win this!"
AeroWorld.net ...In 1992/93 Lockheed contracted Yakovlev on some work pertaining to short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft studies in reference to the JAST (JSF) project. Yakovlev shared its STOVL technologies with the US company for several dozen million dollars.
Former Yakovlev employees accuse Yakovlev heads of taking personal interest out of the deal with Lockheed, because the official sum of the contract did not correspond with the value of the information presented to the US company. The data was on the Yak-141 test program, aerodynamics and design features, including the design of the R-79 engine nozzles.
After a careful study of those materials, Lockheed - without much noise - changed its initial JSF proposal, including a design of the engine nozzles that is now very similar to those of the Yak-141...
Russian Aerospace ...Lockheed Martin is also cooperating with the Yakovlev Design Bureau to build an advanced fighter/attack jet for Air Force and
Navy use. The deal is still pending Russian government approval, but plans call for a prototype to be ready by 2000 and operational
plane by 2010. The plane could end up replacing the F-14, 15E, 16, 111, 117, and AV-8B. Yakovlev's contribution will be based on its
recent experience with the Yak-141 VTOL fighter.
Ok, so that may be baby eating Russian propaganda, so lets see what our trusted
Jane's had to say:
... Lockheed Martin also turned to Russia for technical expertise, purchasing design data from Yakovlev...
Wait, for the skeptics, there is still more, this time from
Aviation Week & Space Technology 1995, v142n25, Jun 19, p. 74-77 Lockheed Martin is turning to Russia's Yakovlev Design Bureau for help in designing short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft for the US Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) competition.
And to clear all doubts, even on the official
JSF website ...The exhaust from the engine flows through the 3 Bearing Swivel Nozzle (3BSN). The 3BSN nozzle, developed by Rolls-Royce, was patterned along the lines of the exhaust system on the Yakovlev Yak-141 STOVL prototype that flew at the 1992 Farnborough air show....
Some images:
Yak-43
Lockheed Martin X-35
As you can see, aesthetically they look very similar, with a few improvements made to the JSF to make it more stealthy.
Now, there are some of you who know more about this stuff than I do, but the information above is cristal clear and I provided more than enough proof. Lockheed worked with Yakovlev extensively judging by comparing the final design to previous Yakovlev work. It could be said that this plane was a joint American-Russian venture. IMO thats a good thing, cause they can do some things better.
How would have Lockheed fared without their help? would they have won the design competition? would they even have made anything near what Boeing did?
Boeings plane was an amazing aircraft, and I still believe it should have won, if not for the Russians.
You be the judge.
(enjoy it while you can Boroda)
