Editing Yakovlev Yak-9 (section)

{{Short description|Fighter aircraft}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
| name = Yak-9
| image = Yak-9U at Central Air Force Museum Monino pic1.JPG
| caption = Yak-9, 1978
| type = [[Fighter aircraft|Fighter]]
| national_origin = [[Soviet Union]]
| design_group = [[Yakovlev|A.S. Yakovlev Design Bureau]]
| builder = [[Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association|Plant No.153]] ([[Novosibirsk]]),  [[Production Corporation Polyot|Plant No.166]] ([[Omsk]]), Plant No.82 ([[Moscow]])
| first_flight = 6 July 1942 (Yak-7DI)
| introduction = October 1942
| retired = 1950 ([[Soviet Air Forces]]), 1951 ([[Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force]]), 1955 ([[Bulgarian Air Force]])
| primary_user = [[Soviet Air Forces]]<!-- List only one user; for military aircraft, this is a nation or a service arm. Please DON'T add flag templates, as they limit horizontal space. -->
| more_users = {{unbulleted list|[[French Air Force]] ([[Normandie-Niemen]])|[[Polish Air Force]]|[[Yugoslav Air Force]]}}<!-- Limited to THREE (3) "more users" here (4 total users).  List users with {{plainlist}} or {{unbulleted list}}. -->
| produced = October 1942 – December 1948
| number_built = 16,769<ref name="Yakubovich p. 101.">Yakubovich 2008, p. 101.</ref>
| developed_from = [[Yakovlev Yak-7]]
}}

The '''Yakovlev Yak-9''' ({{langx|ru|Яковлев Як-9}}; [[NATO reporting name]]: '''Frank''')<ref>Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955-56 p. 188</ref> is a single-[[Piston engine|engine]], single-seat multipurpose [[fighter aircraft]] used by the [[Soviet Union]] and its allies during World War II and the early [[Cold War]]. It was a development of the robust and successful [[Yakovlev Yak-7|Yak-7B]] fighter, which was based in turn on the tandem-seat advanced trainer known as the Yak-7UTI. The Yak-9 started arriving in Soviet fighter regiments in late 1942 and played a major role in retaking air superiority from the [[Luftwaffe]]'s new [[Focke-Wulf Fw 190]] and [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] fighters during the [[Battle of Kursk]] in summer 1943.

The Yak-9 had a cut down rear fuselage with an unobscured canopy. Its lighter metal structure allowed for an increased fuel load and armament over previous models built from wood.<ref name="Gustin p. 120.">Gustin 2003, p. 120.</ref> The Yak-9 was manoeuvrable at high speeds when flying at low and medium altitudes and was also easy to control, qualities that allowed it to be one of the most produced Soviet fighters of [[World War II]].{{cn|date=June 2021}} It was produced in different variants including the Yak-9T with the {{cvt|37|mm}} cannon and the "large-calibre" Yak-9K with a {{cvt|45|mm|2}} cannon firing through the propeller hub, which were used for antitank duty and as potent aircraft destroyers, the fighter-bomber Yak-9B with an internal bomb bay behind the cockpit for up to {{cvt|400|kg}} worth of bombs, the long-range Yak-9D and the Yak-9DD with additional wing fuel tanks to escort bombers over Eastern Europe, and the Yak-9U with a more powerful engine and improved aerodynamics. The Yak-9 remained in production from 1942 to 1948, with 16,769 built (14,579 during the war).<ref name="Drabkin p. 146.">Drabkin 2007, p. 146.</ref>

After World War II, the Yak-9 also was used by the [[North Korean Air Force]] during the [[Korean War]].<ref name="Angelucci and Matricardi p. 246.">Angelucci and Matricardi 1978, p. 246.</ref>