Yakovlev YAK-23: The First Yakovlev Jet Fighters

The Yak-23 was the final development of the highly successful Soviet fighter series which began with the Yak-1 in 1940. Its immediate predecessors were the Yak-15 and Yak-17, both simple jet-powered Seriesversions of the wartime Yak-3; the Yak-23 was an updated all-metal version of the basic design. It saw service with several Warsaw Pact air forces, as a lightweight fast-climbing interceptor. The design, development and operations of the Yak-15, -17 and -23 are described and illustrated in t…