Yakovlev Yak - 28 The Yakovlev Yak - 28 was a swept wing , turbojet - powered combat aircraft used by the Soviet Union . Produced initially as a bomber , it was also manufactured in reconnaissance , electronic warfare , interceptor , and trainer versions , known by the NATO reporting name s Brewer , Firebar , and Maestro respectively . Based on the Yak - 129 prototype first flown on 5 March 1958 , it began to enter service in 1960 . Design and development . It was first seen by the West at the Tushino air show in 1961 . Western analysts initially believed it to be a fighter rather than an attack aircraft — and a continuation of the Yak - 25M , at that — and it was designated " Flashlight " . After its actual role was realized , the Yak - 28 bomber series was redesignated " Brewer " . The Yak - 28 had a large mid - mounted wing , swept at 45 degrees . The tailplane set halfway up the vertical fin ( with cut - outs to allow rudder movement ) . Slats were fitted on the leading edges and slotted flaps are mounted on the trailing edges of the wings . The two Tumansky R - 11 turbojet engines , initially with 57 kN ( 12 , 795 lbf ) thrust each , were mounted in pods , similar to the previous Yak - 25 . The wing - mounted engines and bicycle - type main landing gear ( supplemented by outrigger wheels in fairings near the wingtips ) were widely spaced , allowing most of the fuselage to be used for fuel and equipment . It was primarily subsonic , although Mach 1 could be exceeded at high altitude . Total production of all Yak - 28s was 1 , 180 . Operational history . It was in an Yak - 28 that Captain Boris Kapustin and Lieutenant Yuri Yanov made their heroic feat on 6 April 1966 , when one of the engines on their aircraft stopped , they managed to divert their aircraft from a housing estate in West Berlin into Lake Stößensee . Both heroes were posthumously awarded with the medal of the Red Banner . Their bodies , along with the wreckage , were raised from the lake by British troops , while British agents covertly retrieved important top secret material from the plane . The Yak - 28P was withdrawn in the early 1980s , but trainer and other versions soldiered on until after the fall of the Soviet Union , flying until at least 1992 . The recce and ECM aircraft were eventually replaced by variants of the Sukhoi Su - 24 . Variants . Yak - 129 Yak - 28 ( " Izdeliye B " ) Yak - 28B ( " Izdeliye 28B " ; NATO reporting name : " Brewer - A " ) Yak - 28L ( " Izdeliye 28L " ; NATO reporting name : " Brewer - B " ) Yak - 28I ( " Izdeliye 28I " ; NATO reporting name : " Brewer - C " ) Yak - 28UVP prototype ( " ookorochennyy vzlyot i posahdka " — short takeoff and landing ) Yak - 28U ( " Izdeliye 28U " ) ( " oochebnyy " - training ) ( NATO reporting name - " Maestro " ) Yak - 28R ( " Izdeliye 28R " ; NATO reporting name : " Brewer - D " ) Yak - 28SR prototype ( " samolyot raspylitel " - spraying / dusting aircraft ) first use of SR . Yak - 28SR ( " Izdeliye 28SR " ) second use of SR . Yak - 28TARK ( " televiszionnyy aviatsionnyy razveddyvatel ' nyy kompleks " ) Yak - 28RR ( " Izdeliye 28RR " ) Yak - 28RL Yak - 28PP ( " Izeliye 28PP " ) ( NATO reporting name - " Brewer - E " ) Yak - 28VV proposition ( " vertikahl ' nyy vzlyot " - vertical take - off ) Yak - 28LSh proposition Yak - 28P ( " Izdeliye 40 " ) ( NATO reporting name - " Firebar " ) Yak - 28PM prototype Yak - 28URP prototype Yak - 28 - 64 prototype