The main distinguishing characteristic between it and the Yak-200 was an external radome under the rear fuselage for the PSBN-M (pribor slepovo bombometahniya i navigahtsii—blind-bombing and navigational device) search/bomb-aiming radar as was fitted on the Ilyushin Il-28.

An OPB-6SR (opticheskiy pritsel bombardirovochnyy—optical synchronized bombsight) and an AFA-BA-40 camera were also fitted; the latter could tilt 15° aft to record bomb impacts.

[1] The Yak-200 prototype made its first flight on 10 April 1953 and it underwent its State acceptance trials between 29 July and 10 September.

Remedies included adding a 35 cm (14 in) extension in the fuselage and a dorsal fillet to correct the stability issues.

[4] Data from Gordon et al., OKB Yakovlev: A History of the Design Bureau and its AircraftGeneral characteristics Performance