Runnymede Institute

If Irkut Corporation already signed a firm deal with the Russian Defence Ministry to produce 55 Yak-130 Combat Trainer aircraft they’ll struggle to deliver by 2015, how does the Syrian deal to acquire 36 of the same within ‘months’ spell doom today for the Israeli press? It rates as more of an odd joke than a national concern to publish!

The forces lining up and rattling sabres in the Persian Gulf have been selling and storing weaponry there in a steady stream for half a century. On the pretence that the Cold war had ended, bottlenecks in military industry were allowed to transpire in recent times but the airbase facilities in Oman that came online in the late 1980s ensured customers would be found for just such an eventuality as we see in Hormuz.

Over in the Med, the disciples of Nasserism and US installed despots have fallen nearly to a man but let’s not kid ourselves too much, Israeli policy has been the driving force of political stalemates and Netanyahu’s endless quest to be a positively lousy neighbour proves it. Mossad has been running quadruple agents in Damascus since before they hanged Elie Cohen and then there’s the Teheran nuclear scientists.

False-flag back-stabbing chicanery used to be carried off with a lot more style though. Bibi’s case too for sanity by striking Iran first is looking ever wackier by the hour. His bully posture coupled with a fervent desire to start World War 3 in all it’s potential destructiveness can only mean one thing, Bibi believes he’ll be the one who writes that history, rakes through ashes, transforms himself into a blameless hero to the rescue.

The whole thing’s playing out like a bad movie whose ending was easy to guess from the start, war is going to happen, many will die and those left standing will form a new global control over minerals and dazed populations. Whether this powderkeg blows from a spark in Damascus or the sinking of a US warship, NATO will be fighting the Russians and there’s no shadow of a doubt in that department of intelligence squawk.

Russians masquerading as Syrian or Iranian pilots would be a cinch compared to the 50s when they were outed as North Korea’s borrowed ‘air force’ due to the MiG-15s shooting the crap out of F-86s, although they were never allowed to admit as much in public. War against Iran anticipates a killing wave unparalleled in our lifetime, the elite fight for supremacy is as unsustainable as their economic plans, they do keep us busy.

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The Yak-130 combat trainer was selected as the winner of the trainer competition of the Voyenno Vozdushnyye Sily, Russian Federation Air Force, in April 2002. The aircraft is also actively marketed for export by Yakovlev, the Irkut company, and by Rosoboronexport. The Russian Air Force has a future requirement for 300 Yak-130 aircraft that can be deployed as a light strike aircraft or as a trainer for a range of fourth or fifth-generation fighters.

An order was placed for the first 12 aircraft to replace aging Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatros in 2002. The aircraft entered service in the Russian Federation Air Force at the military pilot training academy in Krasnodar in July 2009 and was showcased in the MAKS 2009 air show.

The production line for the aircraft at the Aviation Plant Sokol in Nizhny Novgorod, known as NAZ Sokol, is fully operational and the roll out of the first production series aircraft took place in May 2003. A series of flight tests of the serial production aircraft was started in April 2004.

The Russian Air Force ordered official testing in May 2005. The full trials of the advanced combat trainer, including spin and combat tactics trials, were completed in December 2009 prior to delivery of the first two production aircraft to the Russian Air Force. “The Yak-130 production aircraft is slightly different from the Yak-130D demonstrator.”

The first Yak-130 ordered by the Russian Air Force completed its flight acceptance test at Sokol in August 2009. The Russian Airforce received the first four of 12 Yak-130s between February 2010- April 2010. Another 5 aircraft were delivered in April 2011.

In March 2006, it was announced that Algeria had placed an order for 16 Yak-130 trainers. The first flight of the Yak-130 built for Algerian Air Force was completed in September 2009. Deliveries are due to begin in 2011. In September 2011, the Algerian pilots were permitted to take solo flights on the aircraft after completion of three months theoretical and practical trainings. In January 2010, the Libyan Air Force ordered six Yak-130 aircraft.

The Vietnamese Air Force has ordered eight Yak-130 aircraft. In December 2010, the Kazakh Defence Minister signed an agreement with his Russian counterpart to use the Yak-130. Syria and Indonesia have also shown interest in Yak-130 combat trainers.

A joint programme for trainer development between Yakovlev of Russia and Aermacchi of Italy began in 1993 and the Yak / AEM-130D demonstrator first flew in 1996. In 1999, the partnership was dissolved and the Yakovlev Yak-130 and the Aermacchi M346 became separate programmes.

By the second quarter of 2003, the Yak-130 prototype had successfully completed 450 flights, including high-manoeuvrability flight demonstrations such as a controlled angle of attack of 42°. The Yak-130 completed the first stage of state joint tests in April 2009 which includes incorporating basic armaments. It arrived at Lipetsk Air Base in February 2010.

The Yak-130 has a maximum g-loading of +8g to -3g and is capable of executing the flight manoeuvres specific to current operational and developmental combat aircraft, including Su-30, MiG-29, Mirage, F-15, F-16, Eurofighter, F-22 and F-35.

Other variants of the Yak-130 considered included a navalised carrier-based trainer aircraft, a lightweight reconnaissance aircraft and an unmanned strike aircraft. The Yak-130 production aircraft is slightly different from the Yak-130D demonstrator, with lower weight, a more rounded nose to accommodate a radar, a shorter fuselage length and a lower wing area.

The Yak-130 is of classical swept-wing and empennage monoplane design and light alloy construction with carbon-fibre control surfaces. Kevlar armour protection is fitted to the engines, cockpit and avionics compartment. The moderately swept high-lift wing and the all-moving low-mounted tail plane allow the pilot to choose high angles of attack. For short airfield performance the aircraft is equipped with leading edge slats and three-position Fowler flaps.

The Fowler flaps are split flaps which move rearward and then downward on tracks to give a large increase in lift and high lift and drag for landing manoeuvres. The airframe is designed for a 30-year service life with 10,000 hours flying time or 20,000 landings.

The Yak 130 aircraft can be operated from unpaved runways and small unprepared airfields as the aircraft’s landing gear is designed with high take-off. A complex fly-by-wire control system installed enables the aircraft to featureautomatic flight control system, active flight safety system, training stability and controllability characteristics.

The aircraft has an air-conditioned and pressurised two-seat tandem cockpit fitted with NPO Zvezda K-36LT3.5 zero-zero ejection seats. The pilots have all-round view through a blister canopy. The forward pilot has a view over the nose to -16°. The rear pilot has a view to -6°. The production Yak-130 is the first Russian aircraft with an all-digital avionics suite. The avionics meets Mil Standard 1553 and can be adapted to customer requirements. We can’t help but wonder what special goodies Mr. Assad got!

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