Next up ... not a UAV but a manned derivative of the Yak-144 series. The Yak-144-I (Issledovaniye = Research) had incorporated a 2-seat cockpit [1] into the nose of a Yak-144A airframe. Used as a sensor 'test mule', the Yak-144-I looked to be another one-off ... until the outbreak of the Afghan conflict.
Yakovlev engineers quickly realized that there was counter-insurgency potential in a relatively slow-flying aircraft operating above effective small arms fire range. From that altitude, the aircraft could track insurgents safely before directing laser-guided bombs onto selected targets. The Yakovlev OKB proposed that their Yak-144I design could be quickly adapted to meet this envisioned role.
The revised manned aircraft was designated Yak-140-O (Obnovlennyy = Updated). [2] Dubbed Stervyatnik (Vulture), the Yak-140-O differed from the Yak-144I mainly in sensor fit, operational equipment, and the six new weapon pylons lining the wings. NATO codenamed this new Yak-40 variant 'Forebear'.
By its very nature, the Stervyatnik was restricted to combat in areas of total air superiority. With the Soviet withdrawl from Afghanistan, the intended role of the Yak-140-O ceased to exist. The V-VS quickly removed the Yak-140-O from combat use. However, that was not the end of the Stervyatnik story.
The Yak-140-O proved to be an ideal platform for a number of non-combat roles. Initially it was seen as a flying simulator for Yak-144 and Yak-244 UAVs. More widespread use came with the Stervyatnik's adoption outside the military. Other than for very high-altitude use, the type became a prefered type for much scientific sensor work including meteorology work (as the Yak-140M for Meteorologicheskiy) and mapping.
(Below) Shown in its later days is a Stervyatnik re-equipped for geological survey work, the Yak-140GS (Geologicheskaya s"yemka). Built as a Yak-140A, this aircraft now features a large belly radar radome (in place of the usual sensor 'canoe' fairing) and much-reduced 'antennae farms' (on fuselage spine, belly, and wingtip pods). There is no sign of the usual large electro-optical turret (usually partially visible even when retracted into its rear fuselage bay) but, incongruously, the tail ECM antenna is retained.
_______________________________
[1] To speed the Yak-144I conversion process, the complete cockpit and canopy of the Yak-25M interceptor was adapted to the Yak-144A airframe.
[2] The Yak-140-O designation seems intended to confuse NATO. The Stervyatnik was no more closely related to the Yak-40 airliner than was the Yak-144A UAV. And in what sense was the Stervyatnik 'Updated'?
_______________________________