Airforces

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #359 FEBRUARY 2018 // 77

Export success

suit in March 2006. While the first pair was

funded by Yakovlev, funding for ‘03’ came

from the Russian defence ministry. The

subsequent flight-test effort proved rather

problematic and ‘03’ was lost due to an FBW

failure in July 2006. Then, another aircraft

destined for joint state testing, appropriately

serialled ‘04’, was built to replace ‘03’ and

was reported delivered in June 2009.

An initial batch of 12 Yak-130s was ordered

as early as 2006. The ‘preliminary conclusion’

of the suitability testing was issued by the

929th State Flight Test Centre in Akhtubinsk

in 2007 and opened the door for large-scale

production. Two Yak-130s were completed

in 2009 and a further nine in 2010. However,

entry into service proved a protracted affair.

In April 2009, the state testing programme

with a basic set of weapons was reported

completed, and in December of the same

year the effort with an expanded weapons

selection was said to have ended. The first

batch of four production-standard Yak-

130s was delivered to the combat training

centre in Lipetsk in February 2010 to start

instructor training, while the first batch of

aircraft for the Borisoglebsk training centre

followed in April 2011. The first training

flights for instructors converting to the Yak at

the 209th Training Aviation Regiment (UAB)

in Borisoglebsk were performed in August

of that year. Follow-on Yak-130s, newly

delivered from Irkut, joined flight operations

with the 209th UAB in mid-November 2013.

The Rosoboronexport-led Yak-130 sales campaign

has yielded some success. The first export order

was placed by Algeria in 2006, calling for 16 aircraft

from Irkut. Completion of the order was delayed

amid flight control revisions after the various crashes,

combined with the protracted establishment of the

production line at the IAZ plant in Irkutsk. All the

aircraft, which were originally scheduled for delivery

in 2008 and 2009, were handed over in 2011. In

2010, Libya placed an order for six Yak-130s but they

were never delivered due to the civil war. A deal for

36 aircraft was signed with Syria in December 2011.

This was similarly put on hold. The export sales

drive gained momentum after 2010, with three more

customers in the shape of Belarus, Bangladesh and

Myanmar placing orders between 2014 and 2016.

Irkut maintains that the Yak-130’s price

is significantly lower than that of any other

advanced jet trainer. At the same time the life-

cycle costs are advertised as four to six times

lower than those of the Su-27 and MiG-29.

Belarus ordered eight Yak-130s in identical

configuration to the VKS aircraft in December 2012;

four were taken on strength in April 2015 and four

more followed in December 2016. Belarus has already

explored the full combat capabilities of the Yak-130,

including launches of R-73 missiles against parachute

targets and drops of live KAB-500Kr TV-guided

bombs. Bangladesh became the third customer,

with an order for 16 jets, all of which were delivered

by the end of 2016 to replace A-5C attack aircraft.

Bangladeshi aircraft serial 102 was lost in a crash on

July 11, 2017, both pilots ejecting safely and another

pair was lost on December 27 (see Attrition, p95).

Myanmar is the latest customer, with a June 2015

order for six aircraft. The first three were delivered

in late 2016 and three more arrived last year. An

additional order has been placed by the same

customer for an undisclosed number of aircraft,

slated for delivery in 2018. The list of prospective

new export customers for the Yak-130 includes

Armenia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Laos and Vietnam.

A Yak-130 fuselage under construction at the IAZ

plant in Irkutsk. Irkut

The Yak-130 completed its state testing programme
on December 22, 2009, which permitted regular
operation in VKS training units, while the
Lipetsk-based centre was tasked with so-called
experimental operation, together with additional
tests and conversion training of instructor pilots.
Stanislav Bazhenov

Production at the Sokol plant began in late 2008, with initial deliveries to the Russian air arm made in April

2010, when the first four series-standard machines were handed over to the Lipetsk-based combat training

and aircrew conversion centre. Andrey Zinchuk