Yak-9P T2-3002 United States Air Force

These are 1/72 scale decals for Yakovlev Yak-9P, T2-3002, operated by the Foreign Technology Division (FTD), United States Air Force — a captured Soviet fighter evaluated by American intelligence and test personnel to extract every possible secret from one of the USSR's most capable wartime and early Cold War fighters.

The Yak-9P was the final and most refined production variant of the legendary Yak-9 family, featuring an all-metal construction in place of the earlier mixed wood-and-metal airframe, improved avionics, and a more powerful armament fit — typically a 20mm ShVAK and two 12.7mm UBS machine guns. Entering service in the late 1940s, the Yak-9P was exported widely to Soviet-aligned air forces and saw combat in the Korean War with North Korean and Chinese pilots, where it occasionally clashed with USAF and UN aircraft — making American intelligence agencies extremely eager to get their hands on an intact example for evaluation.

The Foreign Technology Division, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, was the USAF's primary organization for the collection, exploitation, and analysis of foreign aerospace technology — the institutional home of America's most sensitive captured aircraft programs. A Yak-9P in FTD hands would have been subjected to exhaustive flight testing and technical analysis, with American test pilots wringing out its performance envelope to identify strengths, weaknesses, and tactical vulnerabilities that could be exploited in combat. The "T2" prefix in the serial number T2-3002 was the FTD's standard designation for captured foreign aircraft under evaluation.

A fascinating intelligence and flight test subject from the front lines of the early Cold War technological competition. Please allow some time for decal printing and shipping.