Fighting celestial trainer Yak-130

2024 Author: Matthew Elmers | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:49

November 2011. An agreement was signed with OAO Irkut for the supply of 55 units of new YAK-130 combat training aircraft by the end of 2015. The old L-39 no longer satisfies the Russian Air Force with its capabilities, because the new Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters are entering service, and the new Yak-130 UBS was created with a backlog of the capabilities of the next generation aircraft. The capabilities of the Yak-130 will make it possible to raise the professional training of the Russian Air Force flight personnel to the required level of new aircraft. In total, under the state armament program until 2020, it is planned to purchase 65 Yak-130 units. The aircraft have already started to be exported to some foreign countries. Experts estimate the Yak-130 market at about 250 vehicles per year. OJSC Irkut plans to improve the characteristics of the combat trainer in the near future, which will undoubtedly lead to an increase in sales. The management of the company announced that the Yak-130 in a single version will appear in the presence of a large customer. But at this stage of development of the Yak-130 UBS, the single version is not in great demand, the main customers are guided by the 2-seater version of the UBS. The company is now evaluating the possibility of completing a second assembly line at its own plant. “Fundraising is not yet required, OJSC Irkut has enough orders, so any bank will meet us,” V. Sautov said.

Creation of the Yak-130

The last trainer aircraft used in the USSR is the L-39 Albatross. A Czechoslovak-made aircraft with a Soviet-made AI-25TL 2-circuit engine. This reliable and economical machine was used to train future pilots in military schools. But with the entry into service of the 4th generation aircraft, the existing training procedure was completely violated. New aircraft and fuel became expensive, the country's economy deteriorated rapidly - all this made it almost impossible to use 4th generation aircraft for training future pilots. It becomes senseless to train future pilots on the TCB of the previous generation - it is impossible to change over to the new Su-27 and MiG-29 after the Albatross. The gap between the flight characteristics of the aircraft was too large.

New training aircraft were urgently needed, and of a new generation. In 1990, it was decided to create a new training kit. According to the TTZ, the new training aircraft should have 2 engines, the landing speed on the runway up to 170 km / h, the take-off run up to 500 meters, the ability to operate on unpaved runways, the flight range during the run is approximately 2.5 thousand kilometers, the payload coefficient is up to 0.7. In addition, the UTK needed to be unified for all domestic aviation - reprogramming the flight characteristics of the aircraft to be able to simulate aircraft of different classes. All equipment and units are of domestic production. The need for the Air Force for new training aircraft 1200 units. The first copies were supposed to enter service in 1994.

The military department of the Soviet Union announced a competition for the creation of a new training complex among domestic design bureaus. The following solutions were presented:

- supersonic S-54, presented by the Design Bureau named after P. Sukhoi. The project was created on the basis of the Su-27 with one R-195FS propulsion system;

- the MiG-AT aircraft presented by the A. Mikoyan Design Bureau. The aircraft was originally planned as an inexpensive and economically viable built on AI-25TL engines;

- M-200 aircraft in the UTK-200 complex, presented by the V. Myasishchev EMZ. The plane was very reminiscent of the French trainer aircraft "Alpha Jet" with RD-35 engines, which are under development at the plant. V. Klimov.

- aircraft UTK-Yak (in the future Yak-130), presented by the Yakovlev Design Bureau. The plane was part of the UTK of the same name. The aircraft received a wing with a moderate sweep and a developed influx. Initially, it was planned to supply the aircraft with AI-25TL engines with replacement in the future by RD-35, R120-300.

According to the results of the competition, the S-54 and MiG-AT are recognized as not meeting the declared requirements. And in 1993, a new TTZ was approved, the A. Yakovlev Design Bureau and the A. Mikoyan Design Bureau, which took part in the first competition, presented their projects to the competition. The requirements for the training complex have been significantly reduced - the driving range is up to 2 thousand kilometers, the landing speed is up to 190 km / h, the take-off run is up to 700 meters, and the attack angle is from 25 degrees. The economic crisis in Russia led to the fact that enterprises to implement their projects began to look for foreign investors - the MiG-AT was supported by the French, the Yak-130 was supported by the Italians. Preliminary consideration of projects in 1993 revealed the favorite - the Yak-130 project. In 1994, the last review of the projects was carried out, and although the preference was clearly on the side of the future Yak-130, the MiG-AT was not discounted, and therefore they decided to determine the best training aircraft based on the results of flight tests of prototypes. The Italians, who supported the development of the Yak-130, were strongly interested in the creation of the TCB. With some modifications, they were going to put the Yak-130 on the European competition for a single trainer. It was the Italians who played the main role in the fact that the plane from training to training and combat.

The Italian requirements for UBS are as follows:

- the maximum speed is 1050 km / h;

- payload up to 2 tons, seven weapon hangers;

- the used GDP is not more than 1000 meters;

- wing area according to UBS requirements.

And although the new aircraft deviated from the basic requirements of the Russian military department, the Italians convinced the Russian military that it was possible to earn very good money on the UBS under the Yak / AEM-130 index or simply the Yak-130. In addition, this vehicle can become the basis for the creation of a vehicle that will satisfy the Russian military. Therefore, the Yak-130 began to be developed in 2 versions - under the TTZ of the Russian military and an export version.

The first prototype of the prototype aircraft, which was supposed to become the basis for the creation of both aircraft versions, was named Yak-130D. The glider was ready in 1994, and in 1995, the model of the aircraft was presented at Le Bourget, at the passing air show. Yak-130D received RD-35 or DV-2S engines. The new plane took off into the sky at the end of April 1996. In 1997, the Yak-130D presented at the Moscow air show enjoyed considerable success.

In 1999, Russian-Italian cooperation came to an end - the two versions of the UBS turned out to be too different and the airlines each went their own way. This is how two UBS of the same concept appeared in the world - the Italian Aeromachhi M 346 and the Russian Yak-130.

By 1999, the Yak-130D made 450 test flights, which took place in Italy, Russia and Slovakia. Testing of the aircraft by military pilots begins, which ends in 2003. In 2004, the Yak-130D fully fulfilled its task and was mothballed. Some test flights of the Yak-130D were considered completed for the Russian TTZ for the Yak-130. The Russian military department, without waiting for the end of the competition, wanted to purchase a test series of ten Yak-130 aircraft. By this time, it became clear that the Russian Air Force did not need the UBS, but the UBS - of all the flight personnel schools, only three remained, and the replacement of the L-39 for training pilots was not so acute.

In 2002, the new commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, V. Mikhailov, approved an act in which the competition committee recognized the Yak-130 as the winner of the competition. The Yak-130 is recommended for development in the interests of the Russian Air Force and is included in the state order. The first flight model Yak-130, tail number 01, rises into the sky at the end of April 2004. The next aircraft with tail number 02 starts flying in early April 2005. The state tests of the Yak-130 were planned to be completed in 2006, but soon the state tests are postponed to 2007. At the end of March 2006, the aircraft with tail number 03, built with funds from the Russian military department, begins to fly.

In mid-2006, a disaster occurs - tail number 03 crashes. The pilots of the plane have time to eject. The commission investigating the crash concluded that KSU-130 was to blame for the crash. The flights of the remaining vehicles have been temporarily suspended. Work begins on the revision of the KSU-130. State tests are successfully completed at the end of 2009, in the same year the first serial Yak-130 began to fly. At the end of September 2011, it became known about the recognition of the existing tender for the UBS insolvent, but not even 2 months have passed, as it becomes known about the signing of a new contract for the supply of 55 units of the UBS Yak-130. And at the end of January 2012, the order is increased by another 10 combat training aircraft.

In total, today the Russian Air Force already has eight Yak-130 UBS, the Algerian Air Force has three Yak-130 UBS. Soon, Algeria will receive the remaining 13 vehicles, Syria 36 vehicles, Vietnam 8 vehicles and Libya 6 UBS Yak-130. In addition, negotiations on the supply of new Yak-130s are underway with a number of other countries.

Device, design and performance characteristics

Yak-130 is designed as a 2-seater 2-engine midwing with a tricycle landing gear. The layout of the aircraft - a highly mechanized wing with overflows, an all-turning stabilizer and the design of air intakes, make it possible to carry out various maneuvers with large angles of attack. The takeoff run of the aircraft is 380 meters, the run is 670 meters. The cockpit has a tandem arrangement of pilots and a single canopy. The factory resource is 10 thousand hours, which can be increased by 5 thousand hours. The warranty period is 30 years. The UBS is equipped with two RD-35 engines (43 kN, 4.4 thousand kgf) with an electronic-digital control system. The resource of engines is 6 thousand hours. The weight of the fuel used is up to 1750 kilograms. The UBS has a fly-by-wire flight control system that can be reprogrammed to obtain the characteristics of various types of aircraft. On board there is a satellite navigation system receiver, ILS, radio navigation system, radio altimeter. The motors are controlled by a digital system. UBS is provided with a developed objective control system. Video cameras constantly monitor the movements of the pilots, the information of the HUD indication is recorded. The K-36-3.5 pilots' seats are equipped with catapults. Both pilot seats are provided with three 6x8-inch display monitors. Pilots are provided with helmet-mounted display and visualization systems.