PapaDragon wrote:The Yak-41 was a technology demonstrator with zero development of systems, equipment, or weapons.
That's because they knew that program will not be getting funds and will be cancelled. They wanted to save money.
This time they have money. Not Yakovlev but whatever company will be getting the gig.
As for your recent comment against stationing VTOLs on helicopter carriers because then they would not be helicopter carriers anymore, that the whole point of stationing them there.
No, they ditched both Yak-38 and Yak-141 while, on the very same timeframe, they opted to develop Mig-29K.
In the dire constraints of the 90's, they opted for what today has become the Mig-29K used both by Russian and Indian Navy.
It speaks volume about the feedback they got both from Yak-38's operational use and Yak-141's development phase.
They worked well or in a satisfactory way only when employed as STOL aircrafts, and with Mig-29K they have a STOL aircraft with good commonality with other versions of the family, good range, good payload, good electronics.
All of these without having to reinvent the wheel or to pursue insane weight saving technologies and solutions.
All you need in addition, is an angled deck with arrestors cables, i.e. a decent sized aircraft carrier.
Because size of an aircraft carrier is always function of the number and dimensions of the embarked aircrafts, as soon you start planning for something more than 20 aircrafts embarked, the minimums length and displacement required for an angled deck pop up by themself from the drawing board.