While a trainer by design, the Yak-18 was pressed into service as a light bomber by North Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953). Changes to the airframe were minimal for bomb racks were simply added to the fuselage centerline. Due to their slow speed, these light bomber Yak-18s were utilized by the North Koreans in night sorties - and this with limited effect. The United Nations assigned the reporting name of "Max" to the series.
Yak-18 numbers have increasingly dwindled over time, beginning to close the door on the storied Soviet-era design for good. Fewer than 50 make up the flyable stable today (2014).
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