Was This The Most Important Fighter of WW2?

The extremely versatile Yak-9 helped the Soviets gain the upper hand against the Germans. However, no other variant was  as promising as the Yak-9T, or ‘Tank Buster,’ which was equipped with a massive NS-37 cannon that could theoretically pierce through a tank’s armor.

Its 37 mm gun has been said to penetrate armor as thick as 30 mm from 500 meters away.

Breakthrough

The Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter was originally conceived as a developmental version of the Yak-7.

The new single-seat, single-engine fighter’s first version was equipped with a 1,180 hp. Klimov M-105PF engine, and the definitive variant, the Yak-9U featured a Klimov VK-107A V-23 liquid-cooled engine.

The model’s maximum speed reached 700 km/hr. at over 5,000 meters, becoming the second fastest aircraft of its time after the P-51B Mustang.

Design

The plane’s monoplane design featured a forward-mounted engine before the cockpit, driving a three-bladed propeller. It had a streamlined fuselage and ended in an empennage capped by a rounded vertical tail fin with applicable horizontal tail surfaces.

Its monoplane wings low-mounted with dihedral were tapers at both edges and ended in a sporting curvature. The multi-purpose jet proved highly maneuverable at high speeds, albeit only at low and medium altitudes.

Still, it was easy to control, and did not take long for it to become one of the most beloved fighters for Soviet pilots. They even regarded the fighter as comparable to its Luftwaffe counterparts.

Premiere Fighter

The Yak-9 would eventually become one of the war’s most premiere fighters. It would also become the Yakovlev line’s most-produced fighter with 16,769 units of which 14,578 were built during the war.

Its most promising variant, the Yak-9T, ‘Tank Buster’ was equipped with a massive 37-mm Nudelman-Suranov cannon with 30 rounds. Stalin himself was fascinated with the concept. The canon had a caliber big enough to destroy ground targets like armored vehicles, and aircraft like bombers with just a single hit.

Overachiever

The Yak-9T gave the Soviets an upper hand against the Germans. However, there was a significant problem. While the robust weapon provided massive firepower, its low rate of fire and heavy recoil made hitting targets challenging.

Since pilots could only fire short bursts, only the first one was truly aimed and the rest couldn’t be controlled. Moreover, penetrating medium and heavy tanks’ top armor was only possible at specifically high angles, above 40 degrees. Achieving these conditions was almost impossible in battle conditions.

Moreover, rudimentary aiming and targeting technology wasn’t advanced enough yet to actually hit their targets at great distances. Ultimately, it was as powerful as it was ineffective.