As Militär Aktuell was able to find out on the fringes of the IDEX trade fair in Abu Dhabi, the Iranian air force has converted the Russian Yak-130 training aircraft into an effective combat platform. As part of the “Zolfiqar 1403” (Islamic calendar) exercise, the Yak-130 successfully fired an air-to-air missile to destroy a drone.
The Yak-130 is one of the latest additions to Iran’s air fleet, with Tehran receiving its first delivery – believed to be six aircraft – from Russia in September 2023. During the exercise, a Yak-130 took part in interceptions alongside MiG-29 fighter jets and successfully shot down an ‘enemy’ drone using advanced Vympel R-73 IR-guided air-to-air missiles (NATO designation: AA-11 Archer). The exercise ranged from the northern Indian Ocean to the coast of Makran in south-eastern Iran.
For the first time, the Yak-130 will enable Iranian pilots to prepare for advanced training for fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft, such as the Su-30 or, in Russia, the Su-57. Incidentally, the Su-57 prototype “054” recently made a stopover on its way back from the Aero-India trade fair in Bandar Abbas, Iran. The rest of the IRIAF/IRGC-AF inventory (from the US, Russia and China) is mostly very outdated, and the prototype of its own trainer Hesa Yasin tragically crashed in December.
The Yak-130 was developed in the 1990s by the traditional Russian manufacturer Yakovlev and the Italian company Aermacchi (now Leonardo) as a two-seater subsonic jet trainer with the possibility of light combat use. The Italian counterpart, the M-346, is now in service worldwide with more than 100 units and around 120,000 flight hours. Most recently, Leonardo has also developed the armed FA version, which has been ordered by countries such as Turkmenistan and Nigeria and is currently being negotiated by Austria for a G2G contract (-> The Austrian Armed Forces get new Leonardo M-346FA) – was selected.
Those responsible in the Austrian Ministry of Defense also saw a potential role for the M-346 in the context of increased air defense against drones.
Here for more news about the Iranian armed forces.
