Airforces

Yak- 130

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

This is the fourth pre-series aircraft, appropriately serialled ‘04’, fully

funded by the Russian defence ministry and delivered in June 2009 for

test and evaluation work. Andrey Zinchuk

Bangladesh finalised a contract for Yak-130 trainers in late 2013 – the purchase financed with help from a $1bn credit arrangement with Russia. The

first six jets were airfreighted into Bangladesh on September 20, 2015. The operator is 21 Squadron. Dr Andreas Zeitler

The initial batch of 12 NAZ Sokol-built aircraft

was delivered to the VKS in 2010 and 2011,

and one of them was lost in May 2010, again

due to a FBW issue – the crew ejected safely.

The order for 55 aircraft in December 2011

called for deliveries to take place until the

end of 2014, plus an option for ten more, to

be delivered in 2016. These aircraft, built

at IAZ in Irkutsk, were priced at US$18.16m

each. Another batch of 12 Yak-130s was

ordered in early 2014 for the Kryla Tavrida

display team, staffed by instructors from

Borisoglebsk. In addition, the Russian Naval

Aviation branch ordered five Yak-130s in

December 2013, with first deliveries expected

this year and with options for five more.

The naval Yak-130s will be operated

by the Yeysk-based 959th Combat

Training and Aircrew Conversion Centre,

for training of prospective Su-30SM,

Su-33 and MiG-29K pilots.

The Yak-130s initially superseded the

Su-25s and L-39Cs of the 209th UAB on its

attack/bomber course. The first students

at the 209th started training on the Yak-

130 in the second half of March 2013,

logging some 100 hours on the type in

five months and mastering air-to-ground

weapons employment. The type then

superseded the MiG-29s and the L-39Cs

of the 200th UAB at Armavir on its fighter

aviation course. Armavir received its first

batch of four Yak-130s in October 2015.

Feedback from the operators suggests

the Yak is more expensive as well as more

sophisticated than the L-39C, which has

doomed plans for one-for-one replacement.

Initial and basic phases are therefore still

undertaken on the L-39C, for the next

few years at least. Initial training is set

to be assumed by the Yak-152, but plans

for the second stage after the retirement

of the L-39C in 2020 are unclear.

Safety problems also continue. The

third Yak-130 loss was reported in

April 2014, this time during testing at

Akhtubinsk, with one of the two pilots

being killed. The cause was again

attributed to the troubled FBW system,

which prompted another round of urgent

improvements. Another VKS aircraft,

‘White 49’, was lost on September 16, of

last year on a mission from Borisoglebsk.

The two pilots ejected safely.

By the end of 2016, 89 production-

standard Yak-130s had been

manufactured for the VKS, including 12

by NAZ Sokol and 77 by IAZ, in addition

to 44 examples for export. The 209th

UAB had received 42 aircraft, including

eight NAZ Sokol-built machines,

which are now only used as ground

instructional airframes, while the 200th

UAB had received 40, all built at IAZ.

In 2013, VKS chief Col Gen Victor

Bondarev announced that a further 50

Yak-130s could be ordered at a cost of

US$767m (unit price US$15.33m), but a

firm contract has yet to be signed.AFM