Yakovlev-130 Mitten
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nirranj
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This tiny Russian plane has a ridiculous number of weapons
An assessment on the YAK-130 by western source.
In the world of Russian jet fighters, Moscow's finest — such as the Flanker and the fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 — tend to grab the most headlines.
But the Yakovlev Yak-130, a comparatively non-glamorous twin-seat jet trainer, is quietly turning heads … because it's obviously more than just a trainer. The twin-engine jet dubbed "Mitten" by Western intelligence is now showing its credentials as a genuine multi-role fighter.
When an air force wants to maximize its combat potential, a trainer — even a jet-powered one — might not be the most obvious choice of aircraft.
But today's multi-role combat trainers are a viable and comparatively low-cost alternative to conventional fighters — even one that originates from behind the former Iron Curtain.
Like many post-Soviet military projects, it took a long time before any pilots got their hands on the Yak-130. But now the aircraft is showing up at the Russian air force's advanced flight training schools.
Further, the Kremlin has begun deliveries to Belarus, a close military ally of Moscow. Previously, the Kremlin delivered Yak-130s to Algeria, another established customer of Russian-made warplanes.
The Yak-130 has three hard-points under each wing. That means it can carry up to three tons of air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, precision-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rockets, gun pods, and external fuel tanks.
Another two stations at the wingtips can carry air-to-air missiles or decoy launchers to spoof enemy heat-seeking missiles. That's not at all. Under its belly, the plane can carry a hard-hitting 23-millimeter cannon.
Recent photographs reveal the next stage in the Yak-130's maturation to a combat aircraft. In the photos, a Yak wearing the latest Russian military markings has a characteristic "bump" in front of the cockpit. This could house the LD-130 laser rangefinder and TV camera for identifying targets and improving the accuracy of its weapons.
Another option for a future upgrade is a flight refueling probe, which would expand the jet's range for offensive missions.
Hang two 500-pound bombs, a gun pod and a pair of fuel tanks on a Yak-130 and it will have a maximum operational radius of 367 nautical miles. That's fairly respectable compared to the F-16, which will haul two 2,000-pound bombs, two AIM-9 Sidewinders, and a pair of external fuel tanks over a radius of 740 nautical miles.
The subsonic Yak-130 belongs to a class of aircraft known as lead-in fighter trainers — or LIFTs. For a modern-day air force, LIFTs allow student pilots to familiarize themselves with the advanced technology they'll encounter once strapped into a front-line fighter's cockpit.
For its part, the U.S. Air Force is currently looking to buy 350 copies of a new LIFT to replace its hopelessly outdated T-38 Talon jet trainers. The Air Force calls the multi-billion-dollar program T-X.
But beyond the LIFT role, jet trainers such as the Yak-130 can fly genuine combat missions, too.
For smaller air forces — such as Belarus — the Yak-130 is a low-cost way of flying missions that would otherwise require an expensive multi-role fighter. After retiring its Su-27 fighters due to cost reasons anddisposing of its Su-24 strike aircraft, Belarus badly needed to bolster its air combat fleet.
Small and agile, but able to pack a punch, the Yak-130 is also useful in counter-insurgency and asymmetric warfare.
The Algerian air force's Yak-130s complement heavier Sukhoi jets and operate alongside upgraded Mi-24 helicopter gunships.
Russian manufacturer Yakovlev — once the country's preeminent fighter designer — designed the Yak-130. Irkut Corporation bought out Yakovlev in 2008, and shifted its production to Russia's far east.
Work on a new trainer for the Russian air force — then the Soviet air force — began in 1990, and by the middle of that decade the Yak-130 competed against the much more conventional Mikoyan MiG-AT. A prototype Yak-130 began flight testing in April 1996, but it wasn't until 2002 that the Kremlin finally selected the trainer instead of the MiG.
During the first decade of the new century, Russia produced four prototype Yak-130s.
The Russia air force placed its first order in 2005 for 12 aircraft, and began receiving the planes in early 2010. The following year, the air force signed a further order for 55 aircraft.
Manufacturers have since delivered all the jets, which are in service with training units at two airfields. Yakovlev is also delivering another dozen aircraft in a "stripped-down" configuration for an aerial demonstration team.
The next customer could be the Russian navy, which would use the Yak-130 to prepare pilots for its carrier air wing at a newly constructed shore-based training facility. The future of the Yak-130 in Russia looks bright — the defense ministry wants at least another 150 examples up to 2020.
The plane's AI-222–25 turbofan engine comes from Russia — but is the result of a cooperative technology agreement with the Ukrainian company Progress. Ukraine banned military cooperation with the Kremlin after Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014.
It's unclear if this will affect the engine's production.
But Irkut has busily courted foreign customers.
The first of these was Algeria. Advanced fighter sales between the two countries went through a turbulent period in the 2000s — because Moscow promised much newer fighters than it actually delivered. But the Yaks proved to be a far more successful purchase.
The first of 16 aircraft arrived in Algeria in late 2011. Like Algeria's Sukhoi Su-30MKAs, the diminutive Yak-130s have customized Western cockpit instrumentation.
A bid to sell the trainer to Libya fell through after that country erupted into civil war, and another war killed a projected sale to Syria. However, as relations between Moscow and the West continued to deteriorate, the Kremlin stated that the Syrian transfer could resume.
Belarus bought four Yak-130s in late 2012, and deliveries began in April 2015. Irkut is hopeful that Bangladesh will be next to receive the "Mitten," with deliveries of a planned 16 aircraft expected to commence next year.
Bangladesh has no shortage of jet trainers in its inventory, and the Yak-130 could fulfill a counter-insurgency role — or at least serve in a dual-role purpose.
Most of the other nations that have looked at the Yak-130 have counter-insurgency or other light combat requirements, on top of any training role. These countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Vietnam.The Yak-130 is a proven lead-in fighter-trainer with combat capability that can also serve in the kind of counter-insurgency war that the U.S. Air Force has found itself fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
The Italian-made M-346 Master is a Yak-130 by another name. It looks verysimilar to the Russian trainer thanks to a cooperation deal struck between Yakovlev and the Italian Aermacchi firm in the early 1990s.
Aermacchi scaled down the Yak-130 slightly, gave it a new digital fly-by-wire control system and an advanced digital cockpit. By the end of the decade, the Russian and Italian partners split, but the resulting M-346 owes a lot to the Yakovlev product.
Indeed, the Russian company received a a multi-million-dollar payout for blueprints it handed over to Aermacchi.
Today, the M-346 is a contender for the U.S. Air Force's new jet trainer.
It has an outside chance, at best — especially now that former U.S. partner General Dynamics has abandonedAermacchi's airframe. But the M-346 — offered to America as the T-100 — found customers in Singapore, Poland, and Israel.
What's perhaps most telling is that Israel chose the Master to train its future F-35 Lightning II pilots. Italy, too, will school its future Lightning II pilots on the M-346. That's basically the same requirement the U.S. Air Force outlined for its T-X program.
Which is an ironic twist. It's not inconceivable that Russian and American pilots destined for the “fifth-generation” T-50 and F-35 will both learn how to fly in what is very nearly the same aircraft.
http://theweek.com/articles/559441/tiny-russian-plane-ridiculous-number-weapons
An assessment on the YAK-130 by western source.
In the world of Russian jet fighters, Moscow's finest — such as the Flanker and the fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 — tend to grab the most headlines.
But the Yakovlev Yak-130, a comparatively non-glamorous twin-seat jet trainer, is quietly turning heads … because it's obviously more than just a trainer. The twin-engine jet dubbed "Mitten" by Western intelligence is now showing its credentials as a genuine multi-role fighter.
When an air force wants to maximize its combat potential, a trainer — even a jet-powered one — might not be the most obvious choice of aircraft.
But today's multi-role combat trainers are a viable and comparatively low-cost alternative to conventional fighters — even one that originates from behind the former Iron Curtain.
Like many post-Soviet military projects, it took a long time before any pilots got their hands on the Yak-130. But now the aircraft is showing up at the Russian air force's advanced flight training schools.
Further, the Kremlin has begun deliveries to Belarus, a close military ally of Moscow. Previously, the Kremlin delivered Yak-130s to Algeria, another established customer of Russian-made warplanes.
The Yak-130 has three hard-points under each wing. That means it can carry up to three tons of air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, precision-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rockets, gun pods, and external fuel tanks.
Another two stations at the wingtips can carry air-to-air missiles or decoy launchers to spoof enemy heat-seeking missiles. That's not at all. Under its belly, the plane can carry a hard-hitting 23-millimeter cannon.
Recent photographs reveal the next stage in the Yak-130's maturation to a combat aircraft. In the photos, a Yak wearing the latest Russian military markings has a characteristic "bump" in front of the cockpit. This could house the LD-130 laser rangefinder and TV camera for identifying targets and improving the accuracy of its weapons.
Another option for a future upgrade is a flight refueling probe, which would expand the jet's range for offensive missions.
Hang two 500-pound bombs, a gun pod and a pair of fuel tanks on a Yak-130 and it will have a maximum operational radius of 367 nautical miles. That's fairly respectable compared to the F-16, which will haul two 2,000-pound bombs, two AIM-9 Sidewinders, and a pair of external fuel tanks over a radius of 740 nautical miles.
The subsonic Yak-130 belongs to a class of aircraft known as lead-in fighter trainers — or LIFTs. For a modern-day air force, LIFTs allow student pilots to familiarize themselves with the advanced technology they'll encounter once strapped into a front-line fighter's cockpit.
For its part, the U.S. Air Force is currently looking to buy 350 copies of a new LIFT to replace its hopelessly outdated T-38 Talon jet trainers. The Air Force calls the multi-billion-dollar program T-X.
But beyond the LIFT role, jet trainers such as the Yak-130 can fly genuine combat missions, too.
For smaller air forces — such as Belarus — the Yak-130 is a low-cost way of flying missions that would otherwise require an expensive multi-role fighter. After retiring its Su-27 fighters due to cost reasons anddisposing of its Su-24 strike aircraft, Belarus badly needed to bolster its air combat fleet.
Small and agile, but able to pack a punch, the Yak-130 is also useful in counter-insurgency and asymmetric warfare.
The Algerian air force's Yak-130s complement heavier Sukhoi jets and operate alongside upgraded Mi-24 helicopter gunships.
Russian manufacturer Yakovlev — once the country's preeminent fighter designer — designed the Yak-130. Irkut Corporation bought out Yakovlev in 2008, and shifted its production to Russia's far east.
Work on a new trainer for the Russian air force — then the Soviet air force — began in 1990, and by the middle of that decade the Yak-130 competed against the much more conventional Mikoyan MiG-AT. A prototype Yak-130 began flight testing in April 1996, but it wasn't until 2002 that the Kremlin finally selected the trainer instead of the MiG.
During the first decade of the new century, Russia produced four prototype Yak-130s.
The Russia air force placed its first order in 2005 for 12 aircraft, and began receiving the planes in early 2010. The following year, the air force signed a further order for 55 aircraft.
Manufacturers have since delivered all the jets, which are in service with training units at two airfields. Yakovlev is also delivering another dozen aircraft in a "stripped-down" configuration for an aerial demonstration team.
The next customer could be the Russian navy, which would use the Yak-130 to prepare pilots for its carrier air wing at a newly constructed shore-based training facility. The future of the Yak-130 in Russia looks bright — the defense ministry wants at least another 150 examples up to 2020.
The plane's AI-222–25 turbofan engine comes from Russia — but is the result of a cooperative technology agreement with the Ukrainian company Progress. Ukraine banned military cooperation with the Kremlin after Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014.
It's unclear if this will affect the engine's production.
But Irkut has busily courted foreign customers.
The first of these was Algeria. Advanced fighter sales between the two countries went through a turbulent period in the 2000s — because Moscow promised much newer fighters than it actually delivered. But the Yaks proved to be a far more successful purchase.
The first of 16 aircraft arrived in Algeria in late 2011. Like Algeria's Sukhoi Su-30MKAs, the diminutive Yak-130s have customized Western cockpit instrumentation.
A bid to sell the trainer to Libya fell through after that country erupted into civil war, and another war killed a projected sale to Syria. However, as relations between Moscow and the West continued to deteriorate, the Kremlin stated that the Syrian transfer could resume.
Belarus bought four Yak-130s in late 2012, and deliveries began in April 2015. Irkut is hopeful that Bangladesh will be next to receive the "Mitten," with deliveries of a planned 16 aircraft expected to commence next year.
Bangladesh has no shortage of jet trainers in its inventory, and the Yak-130 could fulfill a counter-insurgency role — or at least serve in a dual-role purpose.
Most of the other nations that have looked at the Yak-130 have counter-insurgency or other light combat requirements, on top of any training role. These countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Vietnam.The Yak-130 is a proven lead-in fighter-trainer with combat capability that can also serve in the kind of counter-insurgency war that the U.S. Air Force has found itself fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
The Italian-made M-346 Master is a Yak-130 by another name. It looks verysimilar to the Russian trainer thanks to a cooperation deal struck between Yakovlev and the Italian Aermacchi firm in the early 1990s.
Aermacchi scaled down the Yak-130 slightly, gave it a new digital fly-by-wire control system and an advanced digital cockpit. By the end of the decade, the Russian and Italian partners split, but the resulting M-346 owes a lot to the Yakovlev product.
Indeed, the Russian company received a a multi-million-dollar payout for blueprints it handed over to Aermacchi.
Today, the M-346 is a contender for the U.S. Air Force's new jet trainer.
It has an outside chance, at best — especially now that former U.S. partner General Dynamics has abandonedAermacchi's airframe. But the M-346 — offered to America as the T-100 — found customers in Singapore, Poland, and Israel.
What's perhaps most telling is that Israel chose the Master to train its future F-35 Lightning II pilots. Italy, too, will school its future Lightning II pilots on the M-346. That's basically the same requirement the U.S. Air Force outlined for its T-X program.
Which is an ironic twist. It's not inconceivable that Russian and American pilots destined for the “fifth-generation” T-50 and F-35 will both learn how to fly in what is very nearly the same aircraft.
http://theweek.com/articles/559441/tiny-russian-plane-ridiculous-number-weapons
gadeshi
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Another Yak-130 production branch has being delivered to Armavir branch of Krasnodar Flight Academy:
http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/71052/
http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/71052/
gadeshi
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gadeshi
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A new Yak-130 production batch undergoes delivery trials in Irkutsk. They will be transferred to Armavir flight school:
http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/71613/
http://sdelanounas.ru/blogs/71613/
pmaitra
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Yakovlev-130 has two 25 kN engines, and recently, HAL made one such engine. Crossposting from relevant thread:
gadeshi
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Al-55FM will be used instead of it starting from the next year.
Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk
gadeshi
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gadeshi
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gadeshi
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Yak-130 has been oficcially adopted by Bangladesh AF on December the 6:
Press release from Irkut (in Russian, sorry, have not enough time to translate it):
Як-130 принят на вооружение ВВС Бангладеш
6 декабря 2015 г. на авиабазе Бангабандху ВВС Народной Республики Бангладеш состоялась торжественная церемония ввода в боевой состав военно-воздушных сил этой страны первой партии учебно-боевых самолетов Як-130, поставленной нынешней осенью в рамках контракта, заключенного в 2013 г. ОАО «Рособоронэкспорт» с Минобороны Бангладеш (головной исполнитель контракта – корпорация «Иркут»). В торжественном мероприятии приняли участие премьер-министр Бангладеш госпожа Шейх Хасина Вазед, командование вооруженных сил этой страны, представители «Рособоронэкспорта» и корпорации «Иркут».
Как заявил журналистам в сентябре этого года генеральный директор госкорпорации «Ростех» Сергей Чемезов, действующим контрактом предусмотрена поставка в Бангладеш 16 самолетов Як-130. Первые шесть машин по данному контракту были изготовлены и испытаны на Иркутском авиационном заводе корпорации «Иркут» в течение апреля–августа этого года (первый вылет на головном Як-130 для Бангладеш состоялся в Иркутске 29 апреля 2015 г.). Параллельно была проведена теоретическая и практическая подготовка летного и инженерно-технического персонала ВВС Бангладеш к эксплуатации нового для них типа авиатехники. Теоретический курс и обучение на тренажерах бангладешские военнослужащие прошли в Центре организации подготовки авиационного персонала корпорации «Иркут», практическая подготовка проведена на Иркутском авиационном заводе.
По данным бангладешских источников, поставка первой партии из шести Як-130 и сопутствующего авиационно-технического имущества была произведена во второй половине сентября 2015 г. транспортными самолетами Ан-124-100 «Руслан» и Ил-76ТД-90ВД авиакомпании «Волга-Днепр».
В первой половине декабря 2015 г. после завершения постройки на Иркутском авиационном заводе подняты в воздух и испытаны следующие шесть Як-130 для ВВС Бангладеш. Ожидается, что они будут сданы заказчику до конца этого года, а завершение поставок по имеющемуся контракту запланировано на 2016 г.
(Фото: Samaul Haque Tasdid)
Press release from Irkut (in Russian, sorry, have not enough time to translate it):
Як-130 принят на вооружение ВВС Бангладеш
6 декабря 2015 г. на авиабазе Бангабандху ВВС Народной Республики Бангладеш состоялась торжественная церемония ввода в боевой состав военно-воздушных сил этой страны первой партии учебно-боевых самолетов Як-130, поставленной нынешней осенью в рамках контракта, заключенного в 2013 г. ОАО «Рособоронэкспорт» с Минобороны Бангладеш (головной исполнитель контракта – корпорация «Иркут»). В торжественном мероприятии приняли участие премьер-министр Бангладеш госпожа Шейх Хасина Вазед, командование вооруженных сил этой страны, представители «Рособоронэкспорта» и корпорации «Иркут».
Как заявил журналистам в сентябре этого года генеральный директор госкорпорации «Ростех» Сергей Чемезов, действующим контрактом предусмотрена поставка в Бангладеш 16 самолетов Як-130. Первые шесть машин по данному контракту были изготовлены и испытаны на Иркутском авиационном заводе корпорации «Иркут» в течение апреля–августа этого года (первый вылет на головном Як-130 для Бангладеш состоялся в Иркутске 29 апреля 2015 г.). Параллельно была проведена теоретическая и практическая подготовка летного и инженерно-технического персонала ВВС Бангладеш к эксплуатации нового для них типа авиатехники. Теоретический курс и обучение на тренажерах бангладешские военнослужащие прошли в Центре организации подготовки авиационного персонала корпорации «Иркут», практическая подготовка проведена на Иркутском авиационном заводе.
По данным бангладешских источников, поставка первой партии из шести Як-130 и сопутствующего авиационно-технического имущества была произведена во второй половине сентября 2015 г. транспортными самолетами Ан-124-100 «Руслан» и Ил-76ТД-90ВД авиакомпании «Волга-Днепр».
В первой половине декабря 2015 г. после завершения постройки на Иркутском авиационном заводе подняты в воздух и испытаны следующие шесть Як-130 для ВВС Бангладеш. Ожидается, что они будут сданы заказчику до конца этого года, а завершение поставок по имеющемуся контракту запланировано на 2016 г.
(Фото: Samaul Haque Tasdid)
Senyor Sandeep
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Beautiful aircraft. What about the Engine for the LCA version? Does it also use two AL_222-25 turbofan engines with 24.5 kN each? Isn't it under powered? Apart from Tejas, there are some jet designs that I am a very big fan of. Yak 130 & Panavia Tornado would be in the top 5 of that list. If the reports about LCA Mk3 with two kaveri engines with 75-80kN after burner thrust each is true, I would like that to be designed on the lines of Panavia Tornado.
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gadeshi
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2500kgs each is OK for advanced trainer with sufficient aerodynamics.
However, it is known that AI-222-25 will be substituted by afterburning version of Al-55 - Al-55F (2500/3200kgs each) in the future.
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/engines/al55.html
However, it is known that AI-222-25 will be substituted by afterburning version of Al-55 - Al-55F (2500/3200kgs each) in the future.
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/engines/al55.html
Senyor Sandeep
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HAL and ADA should carve out a new company similar to Antrix corporation of ISRO, purely for commercial purposes to export aircrafts to other countries. They probably could use the HAL's HTFE25 and design a LCA/Trainer aircraft like Yak 130 and use Kaveri engines to develop three variants a twin engine aircraft like the Panavia Tornado. One as a striker bomber (Tornado Interdictor and Strike), one for the suppression of enemy air defences (Tornado Electronic Combat & Reconnaissance) and the third variant as an interceptor aircraft similar to Panavia Air Defence Variant.
When the commercial wing picks up, the local market will also pick up, as we Indians are used to buy anything that the foreigners buy, with little hesitation.
When the commercial wing picks up, the local market will also pick up, as we Indians are used to buy anything that the foreigners buy, with little hesitation.
Senyor Sandeep
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Correct me if I am wrong, AL 55 I, the Indian version has 17.5 kN thrust and it is the same engine that our HAL Sitara HJT 36 uses.
Also, I am curious to know what you mean by 2500 KGs and 3200 KGs. Are you referring to the dry weight of the engine?
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