Yakovlev Yak—3 is considered one of the best World War 2 fighters, invariably praised by those who flew it in combat for its remarkable performance. The Germans also treated it with respect, which is perhaps best illustrated by Generalleutnant Walter Schwabedissen’s remark: The Yak—3 was a tough nut to crack for our pilots. It outperformed our machines in speed, maneuverability and rate of climb.
The emergence of Yak—3 was a compromise between the need to improve the Yak—1’s characteristics and the limitations of Soviet aircraft industry and its outdated technologies. The basic design concept took those shortcomings into account, which allowed a rapid launch of mass production of this inexpensive fighter. This in turn would provide frontline units with timely deliveries of new equipment to recoup combat losses.
The key to Yak—3’s success was not the use of a new powerplant (in those days hard to come by in the USSR), but rather squeezing every bit of performance out of the M—105PF engine, which resulted in a five percent increase in power output. In combination with some serious weight shedding, the Yak—3 had a significantly better performance than the Yak—1. At altitudes up to 5,000 m (which is where most of the air combat over Eastern Front took place), Yak—3 outperformed both the Bf—109 and Fw—190 in rate of climb and maneuverability.
Unlike the Yak—1, the new fighter could also stay with the enemy in a dive.