Russian Air Force to purchase 300 Yak-130 trainers

According to General of the Army Vladimir Mikhailov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, some 300 new Yak-130 combat trainers will be purchased for the Russian Air Force in the nearest future. “The first aircraft of this type will be supplied in 2006,” Mikhailov said at the Sormovo Airfield in the Nizhegorodskaya Region after flying the Yak-130. Speaking about his impression, Mikhailov noted high flight performance of the Yak-130: “The aircraft is easy to control. I am sure that young pilots will do well in the modern aircraft cockpit after flying this machine.”
The Russia’s Arms 2004 catalog offers the following information about the Yak-130 aircraft.

The Yak-130 is a new-generation combat trainer intended for basic and advanced training of air school trainee pilots to fly fourth- and fifth-generation combat aircraft, for maintaining skills of pilot personnel of regular air units and flying combat missions in local armed conflicts.
Its advanced aerodynamic configuration – an integrated aircraft layout, a swept wing with wing-root extension and leading edge flaps, high-lift devices, a vertical tail displaced forward relative to an all-moving stabilizer in combination with a high thrust-to-weight ration – provides high takeoff/landing and maneuvering characteristics. The engine air intakes are fitted with devices preventing the ingress of foreign matter. The aircraft has an open architecture avionics suite.
Owing to eight wing hardpoints, the aircraft can carry a combat load of up to 3,000 kg.
The Yak-130 features design simplicity, high reliability of its airframe, powerplant and aircraft systems, a long lifetime, independent basing capability, as well as high maintainability ensured by its automated onboard diagnostics and monitoring system.

Basic Characteristics
Crew 2
Takeoff weight, kg:
normal 5,700
maximum 9,000
Maximum level flight speed, km/h 1,060
Maximum g-load;
operational +8/-3
sustained at an altitude of 5,000 m 5.4
Takeoff run/landing roll, m 380/670
Service life, flying hours not less than 10,000