The Yakovlev Yak-38 'Forger' was developed from the experimental V/STOL system in the Yak-36 research aircraft and was built for service on board the Soviet Union's Kiev-class aircraft carriers. The Yak-38's V/STOL capability is accomplished via twin engine nozzles which can be vectored approximately 100 degrees as well as two tandem lift jets found behind the cockpit. Obviously inspired by the British Harrier, the Yak-38 is considerably inferior in performance and was not very popular with its pilots who would have found themselves hard-pressed against contemporary US carrier-based fighters. Nevertheless, it served on board all of the USSR's Kiev-class ships for fleet defense, reconnaissance and limited strike against surface vessels remaining the sole fixed-wing aircraft deployed at sea until the introduction of the first Soviet conventional carrier, the Admiral Kuznetzov in the 1990s.

First flight of the Yak-38 was in 1972 and entered service four years later as the Yak-38 'Forger-A'. A two seat trainer variant is known as the Yak-38U 'Forger-B' while an improved late production single-seat model was designated Yak-38M, these had a steerable nosewheel, more powerful engines and could carry external fuel tanks.