Airforces

(Steven Felgate) #1
http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #359 FEBRUARY 2018 // 75

aircraft made its maiden flight on April 25,
1995, from Zhukovsky, near Moscow, in the
hands of company chief test pilot Andrey
Sinitsin. The demonstrator amassed a total
of 450 flights during its test programme,
which was finally completed in 2002.
With the important test data to hand, the
two parties’ views of the production variant
differed significantly. An amicable split was
deemed the only sensible course of action.
This came after a decision had been agreed on
a so-called ‘basic version’ at the end of 1999,
which resulted in the two parties continuing
with externally similar aircraft, but with very
different mission systems and powerplants.
Initially, it was thought that the technical
documentation of the ‘basic version’
would be funded by Aermacchi, however
in the event the Russian government paid
Yakovlev for this work in lieu of writing
off Russian trade debt owed to Italy.

The ‘Russified’ derivative proved to be
very successful and Yakovlev eventually
won the domestic tender in 2002, beating
off the MiG-AT. Aermacchi, in turn,
progressed with its M-346 Master, which
has since achieved moderate success,
now in the hands of Leonardo.
Russia ordered a batch of just four Yak-130s
in 2002 for a test and evaluation programme.
Constructed at the NAZ Sokol plant in Nizhny
Novgorod, these production aircraft featured
some significant design modifications
compared with the Yak-130D technology
demonstrator. They were smaller and lighter,
and boasted better aerodynamic performance
while the nose was also new, with a circular
cross-section instead of the oval of the Yak-
130D. This made it suitable for the potential
installation of a radar or targeting system.
The definitive Yak-130 was also powered by
new engines, in the form of the Ukrainian-

made Ivchenko-Progress AI-222-25 turbofans,
intended to be assembled by the MMPS
Salyut company in Moscow, and offering a
good thrust-to-weight ratio of 0.7. The wings
received two additional hardpoints on the
wingtips for carriage of air-to-air missiles
and countermeasures dispenser pods; this
gave a total of six wing hardpoints plus one
centreline station for a maximum of 6,600lb
(3,000kg) of stores. It also embraced the
unpaved runway requirement, being equipped
with foreign object damage (FOD) guards,
while the beefed-up undercarriage utilised
trailing-link legs and low-pressure tyres.

Smart handling
The Yak-130 also held on to the vision of
‘smart handling’ via the sophisticated KSU-130
fly-by-wire (FBW) control system that offers
three operating modes designed to provide
three different sets of stability characteristics.

The principal mode is ‘medium aircraft’, with
instructor-selected ‘heavy’ or ‘light’ modes to
simulate a bomber or high-performance fighter
respectively, by providing corresponding
changes in stick forces and in-flight behaviour.
The FBW system controls deployment of
the wing’s high-lift devices in flight, including
leading-edge slats and combat flaps in
addition to stabiliser trim. The KSU-130 also
ensures control at up to 42-degrees AoA
and when the anti-spin protection feature is
switched off, the Yak-130 can enter a spin, but
with benign and predictable recovery traits.
The production Yak-130 also has three
multi-function colour displays (MFDs) in each
cockpit, while the front cockpit now features
an ILS-2-02E head-up display (HUD).
The Yak-130 is compatible with an array
of weapons including up to four R-73 (AA-
11 Archer) air-to-air missiles for either
training or light fighter duties in conjunction

Below: The Belarusian Yak-130s serve with the 116th Attack Aviation Base at Lida,
and are considered as capable light ground-attack aircraft. Stanislav Bazhenov


Top left: The Yak-130’s lengthy joint state testing programme was not completed until December



  1. This is the first pre-production example built at the NAZ Sokol plant which made
    its maiden flight on April 30, 2004.
    Alexander Mladenov


A close-up of the wingtip of the light attack demonstrator, featuring a countermeasures dispenser pod on the
top, and a Talisman-NT radar jamming pod on the bottom next to an R-73 air-to-air missile. Alexander Mladenov
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