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Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state. According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for all intents and purposes, as a Russian forward operating base. In the coming weeks thousands of Russian military personnel are set to touch down in Syria, including advisors, instructors, logistics...

Russia has begun its military intervention in Syria, deploying an aerial contingent to a permanent Syrian base, in order to launch attacks against ISIS and Islamist rebels; US stays silent. Russian fighter pilots are expected to begin arriving in Syria in the coming days, and will fly their Russian air force fighter jets and attack helicopters against ISIS and rebel-aligned targets within the failing state. According to Western diplomats, a Russian expeditionary force has already arrived in Syria and set up camp in an Assad-controlled airbase. The base is said to be in area surrounding Damascus, and will serve, for...

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on August 12, 2014. It was his first official visit to the Russian Federation as President. And Vladimir Putin was the first leader to invite him for a visit outside the Arab world since his swearing-in as head of state. The agenda included introduction to a selection of Russian military hardware for sale. (1) The two leaders agreed to expand cooperation in the field of arms exports to Egypt in addition to studying the establishment of a logistics center Masri on the Black...

Fighter jets, like the Lockheed F-35, are becoming increasingly expensive. Is it possible to make something much cheaper? Angus Batey reports on a new breed of plane poised to take to the skies. At this summer's Farnborough Air Show in England, the talk was dominated by the mishaps of one plane: the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. Due to be adopted by major air forces in the decades to come, it was supposed to be the star of the show. But in the end, the $100m-a-unit jet failed to turn up to its...

The Yakovlev Yak-130 is Russia’s newest trainer aircraft, capable of being programmed to recreate a range of different flight conditions for trainee pilots as well as functioning as a ground-attack craft. Russia now hopes to take advantage of the plane’s export potential. Within the next two or three years, Moscow intends to present the Yakovlev Yak-130, its newest trainer aircraft, to a wider world market. In comments made at the recent Farnborough International Airshow outside London, Sergei Kornev, head of the Department for Exports of Aircraft and Special Property at Rosoboronexport, the Russian exporter of armaments and military equipment, described...

Russia’s Irkut Corp. is well known in the Asia Pacific region because of the mighty vectored-thrust Sukhoi Su-30 series multirole fighters in service with Indian and Malaysian air forces, numbering about 200 aircraft. The maker also supplied Su-27UB operational trainers to China; and a number of Asian nations still operate swing-wing MiG-23U trainers and MiG-27 strike aircraft built at the corporation’s manufacturing site in Irkutsk city, western Siberia. The company has been fostering a very special relationship with India since the mid-1960s, when it supplied Antonov An-12 tactical transports. Today, about half of the Indian air force fighter squadrons are...

MOSCOW --- Bangladesh ordered 24 Russian Yak-130 light fighter jets worth $800 million in the final quarter of last year, a Russian newspaper reported Tuesday. The deal was paid for with a loan extended by Moscow to the country a year ago, the director of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said in a separate interview published by Kommersant on Monday, without disclosing the deal’s price tag. The newspaper said Tuesday that the sale was worth $800 million, citing unnamed sources in the defense industry. The planes are to be fitted with English-language cockpits and delivery is scheduled to begin next...

IRKUTSK, December 26 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian air force is planning to order an additional batch of new Yak-130 combat trainers because demand for the aircraft is growing, the air force’s top commander said Wednesday. The current contract with Russia’s Irkut aircraft corporation stipulates the delivery of 55 Yak-130s to the air force. A total of 42 aircraft have been delivered so far. “It is certain that we will sign a new contract [on additional Yak-130 deliveries],” Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said during a visit to the Irkutsk aircraft manufacturing plant, which makes Yak-130 trainers. Bondarev confirmed that the...

Bangladesh Plans to Buy 24 Russian Jet Trainers LANGKAWI (Malaysia), March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Bangladesh is planning to buy 24 Yak-130 Mitten jet trainers on $1 billion credit from Russia, Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said on Wednesday. “Bangladesh has a whole list of arms it wants, but so far that is a state secret. I will reveal one little secret: The purchase of Yak-130 warplanes is a very significant subject of negotiations between Russia and Bangladesh,” Rosoboronexport Deputy Chief Viktor Komardin said at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition (LIMA-2013) that opened in Malaysia on Tuesday. He...

Yak-130: New Russia’s Most Successful Aircraft Mikhail Barabanov The Yak 130 advanced jet trainer developed by the Yakovlev design bureau is Russia’s most successful new aircraft, both commercially and technologically, since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Of all the new aircraft developed by the former Soviet states since 1991, the Yak 130 has been mass-produced in the largest numbers. Its design has also been used in two very promising models in foreign countries. The only other project which comes close to the Yak 130 in terms of its commercial success is the Su-30MKI fighter, developed specifically for the Indian...

Russia to Set up New Aerobatics Team by 2015 Russia will create a new aerobatics team flying Yak-130 Mitten combat trainers by 2015, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, said on Friday. "We expect a new Yak-130 aerobatics team to be created by 2015,” Zelin said. Last December, the aircraft construction company Irkut and the Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract for the supply of 55 Yak-130 by 2015. The Yak-130 Mitten jet trainer/light attack aircraft is a subsonic two-seat aircraft developed by the Yakovlev design bureau. The first Yak-130s entered service with the Russian...

Russia to Sell 36 Yak-130 Jets to Syria Russia and Syria have signed a $550-million contract on the delivery of 36 Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten combat trainer, the Kommersant daily quoted on Monday a source close to Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport as saying. Under the deal struck in late December, the jets are to be supplied to Syria once Damascus makes a prepayment, the source said. A source in the aircraft production industry told the newspaper the aircraft construction company Irkut is able to produce the jets for Syria in a relatively short time. Contacted by RIA Novosti, both Rosoboronexport...

Algerian Yak-130 pilots go solo Written by defenceWeb Monday, 12 September 2011 13:34 Algerian pilots in have started solo flying on the Yak-130 trainer in Russia ahead of aircraft deliveries later this year. The Algerian air force has 16 Yak-130 advanced trainers/light attack aircraft on order. Algerian pilots performed their first solo flights on the Yak-130 at Irkutsk Aviation Plant’s airfield on the first of this month. They first underwent a three month course covering flight theory and practical training, according to Irkut. Algerian pilots along with the Irkut’s flight crew made more than 100 flights on the Yak-130 before...

Kazakh Air Force pilots will start using the Russian-made Yak-130 advanced jet trainer/light attack aircraft next spring, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. The first flights will be a sort of "getting the feeling" of the aircraft. The agreement was reached during talks between visiting Kazakh Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov. The two ministers are due to sign a bilateral cooperation plan for 2011. The Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten is a subsonic two-seat aircraft developed by the Yakovlev design bureau. The first planes were put into service with the Russian Air Force in 2009....

A force to be reckoned with Posted on 9 August 2010 in Defence The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) or Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, is one of the largest air arms in the region and is also one of the longest established. Formed in 1930 as the Egyptian Army Air Force, it became fully independent in 1937. Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet...

Algiers has bought 28 Su-30MKA aircraft from Russia, and has options for additional 28. Lead-in training will be provided by 16 Yak 130 to be delivered from Russia. These Sukhoi fighters will operate in three squadrons positioned in Ain Baida airbase, in North-Eastern Algeria. Algeria is also reportedly was the lead export customer for the 34 Su-35 fighters to be delivered upon completion of the new fighter’s development. The Algerian Air Force prepared a new air base for the fighters. Officially opened in 2004 Ein Beida was prepared to receive the first two fighters in 2007 and is now operating...

Russia will supply Su-30 Flanker fighters and Yak-130 Mitten trainer/light attack jets to Algeria in 2011, the deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, Vyacheslav Dzirkalin, said. "The delivery of Su-30s and Yak-130s [to Algeria] is due to begin next year, this is no military secret," Dzirkalin said. Earlier in April, the head of Russian Technologies state Corporation, Sergei Chemezov, in an interview with the Novaya Gazeta weekly said Russia would ship to Algeria "a party of modern Russian fighters" at a price of about $1 billion. Dzirkalin did not specify the number of aircraft to...

The first serial combat-trainer aircraft Yak-130 transferred to the Air Force of Russia has arrived at the 4th Center of combat application and retraining of the flight personnel of the name of V.P.Chkalov. The Commander-in-chief of the Russian Federation Air Force the colonel general Alexander Zelin said: «It is the first Yak-130 from those planned on this year. The plane opens new opportunities for effective trainings of the Air Force cadets. This combat-training complex will allow the young pilots to adapt faster to operate Russian Air Force fighters». The new generation aircraft Yak-130 is developed by Yakovlev Design Bureau, part...

Libya plans to purchase over 20 warplanes from Russia. Moscow and Tripoli are currently in talks about the package of contracts, Interfax reports. The documents can be signed at the end of 2009 or in the beginning of 2010. The deal is evaluated at $1 billion. “Libya plans to purchase 12 or 15 Su-35 multipurpose jets, four Su-30 and six Yak-130 trainer aircraft,” a source told the news agency. “Technically, many contracts have been elaborated well, and are ready to be signed. We only need to regulate financial issues,” the source said.

Alenia eyes 'son of Yak' for USAF light attack fighter For calling the M-346 jet trainer the 'son of Yak', neither Alenia nor Aermacchi may ever forgive me. But, in my defense, the M-346 is a westernized and updated version of the Yak-130 originally produced by the Yakovlev/Aermacchi joint venture in the early 1990s. Now, this descendant of Soviet aeronautical skills could become Alenia's bid for the US Air Force's potential order for 100 light attack fighter-trainers. The US-based subsidiary of Finmeccanica has confirmed to Flightglobal that the M-346 is being considered for the company's response to the USAF's request...