Yakovlev Yak-9YAK 9 Soviet fighter plane model. Production of the Yak 9 began in the summer of 1942, with deliveries of the airplane beginning on October of that year, and the aircraft soon engaged in the Battle of Stalingrad. The Yak 9 operated with a wide variety of armament, including all types of aircraft cannon then in production in the Soviet Union, and during 1943 there appeared variants of the airplane which developed the full potential of the Yak 9 for use