The Yak-17 was essentially a tricycle undercarriage version of the Yak-15, and was also built in a trainer version, unlike the earlier aircraft. Although China never actually operated the fighter variant, a small number of Yak-17UTIs were delivered in the late 1940s, probably to provide basic jet training for potential MiG-15 pilots before the arrival of the dedicated MiG-15UTI trainer variant. This extremely rare aircraft is one of only a tiny number of Yak-17UTIs known to exist.