The Austrian Armed Forces is purchasing new M-346FA jet trainers from the Italian manufacturer Leonardo. After the introduction and basic information on the planned procurement we have in Part 1 we looked at the partnership between the Russian aviation company Yakovlev and the Italian aircraft manufacturer Aermacchi, from which the first predecessor of the M-346FA emerged. Now we take a look at the Yak-130, Russia’s most modern jet trainer and a close relative of the M-346.
The test program with the Yak-130D was completed at the beginning of 2002. In April 2002, the Russian Air Force selected the Yak-130 as the winner over the Mikoyan MiG-AT and ordered four pre-production aircraft.
Russia and Yakovlev, still short of cash, expect the Italians to go into series production much earlier in 2002, but they will be wrong in this assessment. The production Yak-130 differs significantly from the Yak-130D. The aircraft is smaller, the arrangement of the equipment has been made more compact and the weight of the structure has been reduced.
The cross-section of the fuselage nose has been made rounder to allow the installation of a radar. The flight control system is a fly-by-wire system with the ability to reprogram stability and control characteristics to simulate the behavior of a heavy aircraft or a maneuverable fighter. A HUD, radio navigation system, radio altimeter and satellite navigation system receiver will be installed. The instrument panels for instructors and cadets are equipped with three multifunctional screen displays (screen size 6 x 8 inches). A video camera monitors the position of the pilots’ hands and eyes as well as the space inside and outside the cockpit. The video recorder also constantly records information about the display in the HUD.
The new digitally controllable AI-222-25 twin-shaft engine from Ukrainian manufacturer Ivchenko-Progress was selected for the series Yak-130. In order to be able to operate from unpaved or damaged runways, the aircraft is equipped with automatically controlled engine covers that close the two primary air intakes for take-off and landing and open secondary air intakes on the top of the fuselage.
Also installed is a TA14-130-APU auxiliary power unit with an output of 108 kW, which provides the air supply for the air conditioning system, the power supply and the start of the engines on the ground.
The crew sits on K-36-3.5 ejection seats with zero/zero capability. The aircraft was equipped with nine external load stations. One at each wingtip, three under each wing and a central mid-fuselage station. The maximum external load is 3,000 kilograms.
The second pre-production aircraft was shown at the Paris Air Show in June 2003. The first flight took place on April 30, 2004, with test pilot Roman Petrovich Taskaev at the controls.
The first sales success on the world market followed in 2006: Algeria ordered 16 aircraft for pilot training at the beginning of 2006. The configuration is identical to that of the Russian Air Force.
Due to a software error in the fly-by-wire system, the third prototype of the Yak-130 crashed in July 2006. As a result, certification by the Russian Air Force was delayed until November 2007. The test phase ran until 2009. According to chief designer Konstantin Popovich, the aircraft was tested at the time with all on-board weapons weighing up to 500 kilograms that are in service with the Russian Air Force.
Here is a flight demonstration of the Yak-130 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force in 2012.
Proper series production then begins in 2008 with an order for twelve aircraft. On May 19, 2009, the first production aircraft completed its maiden flight. A few months later, on February 19, 2010, the first production aircraft was handed over to the Russian Air Force training center in Lipetsk.
In 2011, the Russian Air Force orders a further 55 aircraft. Just one year later, it is announced that the order will be increased by a further ten aircraft.
Plans to further develop the Yak-130 into a single-seat Yak-131 light attack aircraft were discontinued in 2011. The proposed configuration could not meet the requirements for pilot protection.
In 2015, Belarus received the first four of a total of 12 aircraft. Here is a video of an exercise involving the R-73 short-range air-to-air missile.
In 2018, the Irkutsk aviation plant of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) on Lake Baikla in Siberia produced and delivered 106 units. Production for the Russian Air Force will then continue, albeit at a significantly lower rate. Russia is expected to have 112 aircraft by 2024.
According to Russian sources, however, the requirement is likely to be around 200 aircraft. According to Russian experts, there are currently still far too few aircraft to train all cadets on (as of 2022).
In the course of several crashes in Russia – at least nine are documented, three more in Bangladesh and one in Belarus – an anonymous Russian source spoke of obvious design flaws. As part of this work, the author also went into detail about the internal differences between the Yak-130 and the M-346.
This shows how much the development has diverged since the separation of Yakowlew and Aermacchi. The general design remained the same. However, there are aerodynamically and structurally different solutions, which have also led to externally recognizable differences.
The Yakovlev chief designer, Konstantin Popovich, also stated in an interview that “we did not create an aircraft, but a general concept. Then everyone developed it further in the interests of their national air force.”
The differences to the M-346
From the outside, the M-346 and Yak-130 can be distinguished most clearly by the additional air intakes for the engines on the top of the Yak-130’s fuselage. The M-346 is also equipped with winglets at the transition between the fuselage and wing, which the Yak-130 does not have. The tailplane of the Yak-130 has a sawtooth, which is not found on the M-346.
There are also striking differences in the landing gear, which was designed for unpaved runways in the Yak-130. The internal structure of the M-346 has been redesigned by Aermacci to be more efficient than that of the Yak-130D. This is also externally recognizable by the fact that the Yak-130 has nine external load points, while the M-346 only has seven. In addition, the internal positioning of the western equipment and avionics was redesigned accordingly. Among other things, this led to differences in the tank capacity: 1,700 kilograms for the Yak-130 and 2,000 kilograms for the M-346.
The Yak-130 is powered by two Ivchenko Progress AI-222-25 twin-shaft engines, each weighing 440 kilograms with a thrust of 24.7 kN. In comparison, the M-346 has 14 percent more thrust. Given the same amount of fuel and load, the thrust-to-weight ratio of the M-346 is also significantly better. This is another reason why international and Russian experts consider the M-346 to be more powerful.
Yak-130M
In August 2024, Yakovlev presented the new Yak-130M configuration at the “Army 2024” armaments forum in Kubinka. new Yak-130M configuration configuration. The Yak-130M is designed as a light multi-role combat aircraft based on the Yak-130 jet trainer and is intended to increase the aircraft’s competitiveness on the export market.
Yak-130 key data
- Length: 11.49 meters
- Wingspan: 9.85 meters
- Height: 4.76 meters
- Unladen weight: 4,600 kilograms
- Maximum take-off weight: 10,290 kilograms
- Payload: 3,000 kilograms
- Engines: Two Ivchenko-Progress AI-222-25 turbofan engines, 24.52 kN thrust each
- Maximum speed: 1,060 km/h (660 mph, 570 kn), Mach limit 0.93
- Service peak altitude: 12,500 meters (41,000 feet)
- Range: 1,315 kilometers
- g-limit: +8 to -3
- Angle of attack: maximum 35 degrees
- Lifetime: at least 10,000 flying hours, at least 30 years
In addition to Belarus and Algeria, Russia was also successful with the Yak-130 in Bangladesh (16), Iran (24 orders), Laos (ten), Myanmar (20) and Vietnam (twelve).
In the third part of our thematic focus we take a closer look at the Russian-Chinese co-production Hongdu JL-10/L-15 Falcon – another relative of the M-346.
Here for more army news and here for more news about Leonardo.
