The American F-35 received a number of solutions that Soviet aircraft designers had previously worked on when creating the Yak-141. This opinion was expressed by Major General Vladimir Popov, Honored Military Pilot of Russia.
According to the pilot, the similarity is especially noticeable in the design of vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Popov specifically drew attention to the swivel nozzle, which was used on the supersonic Yak-141.
The American F-35 is in some ways inspired by our Yak-141. If you look at the design of the tail section of this aircraft, especially the naval version of the F-35C, you can notice a certain similarity.
Recall that the Yak-141 was created as a supersonic vertical take-off and landing aircraft. To transition from vertical to horizontal flight, the designers used a complex power scheme with lift engines and a swivel nozzle for the main engine.
Rostec also noted that the Yakovlev design bureau in the 1990s collaborated with Lockheed Martin under a contract on VTOL aircraft amidst the devastation at the enterprise. At that time, Russian engineers advised the American side on a number of technical solutions.
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