Yakovlev Yak - 25 The Yakovlev Yak - 25 ( NATO designation Flashlight - A / Mandrake ) was a swept wing , turbojet - powered interceptor aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft built by Yakovlev and used by the Soviet Union . Design and development . The Yak - 25 originated from a need for long - range interceptors to protect the USSR ' s northern and eastern territory . The specification for a two - seat , twin - engine jet fighter and a related reconnaissance aircraft was issued by Joseph Stalin on 6 August 1951 . The aircraft was to use the new Mikulin AM - 5 turbojet . The first prototype , the Yak - 120 , flew on 19 June 1952 . The new design mounted the turbojets in pods in the wings , with bicycle landing gear , leaving the fuselage volume free for the two crewmen and a substantial fuel load , giving an unrefueled range ( with external tank ) of about 2 , 560 km ( 1 , 600 mi ) . The large , blunt nose contained the radome for the air - interception radar . Armament was two 37 mm NL - 37 L cannon with 50 rounds per gun . Despite some significant problems the type was cleared for production in 1953 and the first were produced in 1954 . Early production models , designated Yak - 25 , were delivered the following year , although they were not yet to operational capacity because of problems with the ' Sokol ' radar . As a result early aircraft used a modified version of the RP - 1D ' Izumrud ' ( NATO ' High Fix ' ) ranging radar instead . When the ' Sokol ' ( RP - 6 ) was finally available , the newly equipped aircraft were designated Yak - 25M , with deliveries starting in January 1955 . The Yak - 25M received a number of other improvements , including recoil dampers for the cannon , upgraded AM - 5A engines ( with the same thrust ) , and a slight increase in fuel capacity . In 1955 and 1956 several Yak - 25Ms were refitted as testbeds for air - to - air missile armament . A reconnaissance derivative of the Yak - 25 , the Yak - 25RV ( " Razvedchick Vysotnyj " , " high - altitude reconnaissance " ) , was developed in 1959 ( NATO codename ' Mandrake ' ) . It had a completely new , long - span straight wing of 23 . 4 meters ( more than twice that of the Yak - 25M interceptor ) with a total area of 55 square meters . Camera and sensor packs were added in the fuselage . Some versions may have retained one cannon . Despite its low wing loading , the ' Mandrake ' s ' altitude performance was marginal at best , with considerable engine problems at high altitudes , excessive vibration , and primitive equipment that imposed high workloads for the crews . The Soviet Air Force nevertheless kept the Yak - 25RV in service until 1974 . A few were used in the late 1970s for monitoring of radioactive contamination , with specialized sensors ; these were designated Yak - 25RRV . Efforts in 1971 to develop the ' Mandrake ' as a high - altitude interceptor ( Yak - 25PA ) proved unsuccessful . The derivative Yak - 26 was developed as a bomber , but only nine were built . In 1961 a series of lightened ' Mandrakes ' were produced as high - altitude target drones . The Yak - 25RV - I was used as a manned target for unarmed ( no live fire ) interception practice , the Yak - 25RV - II as a remote - piloted drone . 483 were built at Saratov plant , including 406 in Yak - 25M variant , and 10 in Yak - 25R reconnaissance variant . Additionally , 155 Yak - 25RV reconnaissance high - altitude planes were built . Operational history . Yak - 25 was first displayed at Tushino in July 1955 , and received the NATO designation Flashlight - A . They started to equip air defence units from 1955 . They were considered easy to fly and popular among the crews . Quite common were engine breakdowns , mostly due to the low engine position when on the ground , which demanded clean airfields , but thanks to twin - engine arrangement , few such failures were fatal . Their withdrawal started in 1963 . The last Yak - 25 interceptors were retired by 1967 ; the ' Mandrake ' reconnaissance version soldiered on in various roles through the late 1970s . Like many other PVO interceptors of the Cold War era , the Yak - 25M was not exported to the Warsaw Pact or other nations . There was also another aircraft named Yak - 25 - a light fighter prototype of 1947 . After it lost a competition with the MiG - 15 and Lavochkin La - 15 , the first Yak - 25 program was abandoned and the designation Yak - 25 was re - used for a new interceptor . See Yakovlev Yak - 25 ( 1947 ) for the description of that aircraft .