YaK Dive Bomber

**Key Features** | »» 14.5 mm PKX heavy machine gun (x4)»» VTOL design allows for rapid deployment»» Desolator defoliant bomb»» Klimov V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine»» Ample ammunition stores

*"Mwahahahahahaha...die!"*

- An obviously insane Yak Dive Bomber pilot

## Tactical Analysis

* **Infantry Eraser**: Armed with multiple machine guns, the YaK lives up to its name. It dives toward enemy infantry formations and unloads a massive amount of lead, assuring the destruction of all below, and in a pinch can be used against aircraft (being surprisingly effective against helicopters). Thanks to the ample ammunition reserves, more than enough to last throughout an entire battle, YaK pilots don't need to reload their machine guns.

* **Area Denial**: A new addition to the YaK's inventory is a chemical bomb, which when dropped poisons the surrounding area, functioning in a manner similar to the Desolator Bombs dropped by Badgers. This is useful for denying ground to enemy soldiers or wiping out an infantry formation double quick. Do note that due to space constraints, the YaK only has space for one bomb and must return to base to load a new one.

* **Must be getting old**: As an aging design, the YaK suffers from considerable weaknesses. It's limited ability to do anything about fighters, for one. In addition, neither its machine guns nor its Desolator Bomb makes much of an impression on heavier vehicles, although thinner-skinned vehicles may still find themselves at the mercy of the YaK.

* **Almost like new**: As an attempt to update its aging YaK fleet, the Soviet Union has been arming YaKs with additional nose-mounted autocannons. Effective against infantry and light vehicles alike, the low priority of YaK retrofitting means only a small proportion of YaK pilots have had the chance to pilot these upgraded YaKs.

## Operational History

The **Yakolev Yak-5 Dive Bomber**, better known as the **YaK**, is a creaky dive bomber that was already obsolete when World War II started. Its early days on the frontlines were completely brutal, as the Allied interceptors such as the Stallion flew circles around the YaK, shooting them down with ease. It was only when the Soviets began deploying jet fighters and rushing them to the front that the YaKs had a hope of even reaching their area of operations unmolested. Since a simple burp from any anti-aircraft weapon could down the plane, it was instead used to dive bomb Allied formations. The bomb was much too weak to penetrate even a Beagle's armour, so it was quickly discarded, but the machine guns proved their worth. In a pinch, any infantry formation could be strafed, with very heavy casualties, leading to the nickname of "Infantry Eraser." The YaK gained a feared and hated reputation for this, not at all helped by the occasional strafing of refugee columns. Indeed, YaKs were often central to many atrocities during World War II.

The most infamous of these was the strafing of the town of Torun, where a flight of YaKs massacred all the resistance fighters there and most of its citizens. Despite its success as an anti-infantry and terror weapon, after the war the YaK was simply too old to be useful in a modern war, or so the Soviets thought.

After World War III, the Soviet military was exhausted, and the Union's industrial output to replace new war machines was already strained beyond capacity. Commanders had to resort to scavenging mothballed tanks and planes to arm their troops, and the YaK was just the machine they wanted.

Other than modifications to the engine and frame, the YaK is mostly the same as it was a decade ago, with the only major addition being a VTOL system to preclude the use of conventional airfields, so vulnerable in today's battles. In actuality, it's just rockets welded to the side of the YaK that shoots the plane into the air, cutting out before the pilot blacks out.

The other major addition is the lacing of the YaK's bomb with the Desolator Defoliant compound, which works much in the same way as the similar bomb used by the Badger bomber. This has already returned the YaK to one of the most hated symbols of the Soviet Union. Apollo pilots use a special kill symbol for YaKs to decorate their planes, earning a special level of gratitude from infantry divisions.

## Behind the Scenes

* The YaK is inspired by the same plane as the *"infantry eraser"* from Red Alert 1.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Thin Skinned

 **Kill Reward** | 6400

 **DPS** | 180

 **DPS** | 100