Yakovlev Yak - 130 The Yakovlev Yak - 130 ( NATO reporting name : Mitten ) is a subsonic two - seat advanced jet trainer / light attack aircraft or lead - in fighter trainer developed by Yakovlev and Aermacchi . Development of the plane began in 1991 , and the maiden flight was conducted on 26 April 1996 . In 2005 , it won a Russian government tender for training aircraft , and in 2009 the first planes entered service with the Russian Air Force . As an advanced training aircraft , the Yak - 130 is able to replicate the characteristics of several 4 + generation fighters as well as the fifth - generation Sukhoi T - 50 . It can also perform light - attack and reconnaissance duties , carrying a combat load of 3 , 000 kg . History . In the early 1990s , the Soviet government asked the industry to develop a new aircraft to replace the Czech - made Aero L - 29 Delfín and Aero L - 39 Albatros jet trainers . Five design bureaus put forward proposals . Among them were the Sukhoi S - 54 , Myasischev M - 200 , Mikoyan MiG - AT , and Yakovlev Yak - UTS . In 1991 , the other proposals were dropped and only the MiG - AT and Yak - UTS remained . Development of Yak - UTS started in 1991 and the design was completed in September 1993 . The same year , Yakovlev entered an agreement with the Italian company Aermacchi to work together on the plane , which now became Yak / AEM - 130 . The Yak - 130 version was to be offered for the Russian and the M - 346 version for the Italian market . On 10 April 2002 , it was announced that Yak - 130 had been chosen as the winner of the tender for trainer aircraft for basic and advanced pilot training , beating the MiG - AT . Plans to develop a Light Attack Aircraft based on the Yak - 130 , came to a halt in the late 2011 . Dubbed Yak - 131 , the aircraft failed to meet " enhanced pilot protection " requirements , put forward by the Russian Air Force . Focus has shifted to a Sukhoi Su - 25 replacement , instead . The Light Attack Aircraft was slated to enter service by the year 2020 . Yak - 130 completed its maiden flight , registered as RA - 431130 , on 25 April 1996 at Zhukovsky . The plane was put on display for the first time at the Paris Air Show in June 2005 . The same year , the Russian Air Force made its first order for 12 Yak - 130s . On 30 April 2004 , the first pre - series Yak - 130 , assembled at the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod , performed its maiden flight . It was followed by three more pre - series aircraft . In December 2009 , the aircraft completed state trials and was accepted for service . The Russian Air Force intends to buy at least 72 Yak - 130s , enough to equip four training regiments . Commander - in - Chief , Colonel General Aleksander Zelin , announced on November 8 , 2011 , that the Russian Defence Ministry was to sign a contract within two weeks with Irkut Corporation for 65 additional aircraft - 55 firm orders plus 10 options . Zelin stated that deliveries were expected to be completed by 2017 . The first serial aircraft was handed to a training center in Lipetsk on 19 February 2010 . However , the Russian Air Force only took delivery of the first Yak - 130 in October 2012 . Design . Yak - 130 is an advanced pilot training aircraft , able to replicate characteristics of Russian 4th and 5th generation fighters . This is possible through the use of open - architecture digital avionics compliant with a 1553 Databus , a full digital glass cockpit , quadruplex - channel digital Fly - By - Wire System ( FBWS ) and Instructor controlled and variable FBWS handling characteristics and embedded simulation . The type also has a Head - Up - Display ( HUD ) and a Helmet - Mounted - Sighting - System ( HMSS ) , with a double GPS / GLONASS receiver updating an Inertial Reference System ( IRS ) for highly accurate navigation and precision targeting . The developer estimates that the plane can cover up to 80 % of the entire pilot flight training program . In addition to its training role , the aircraft is capable of fulfilling Light Attack and Reconnaissance duties . It can carry a combat load of , consisting of various guided and un - guided weapons , auxiliary fuel tanks and electronic pods . According to its chief designer Konstantin Popovich , during a testing phase that ended in December 2009 , the plane was tested with " all airborne weapons with a weight of up to 500 kg that are in service in the Russian Air Force " . Yak - 130 has nine hard points : two wingtip , six under - wing and one under - fuselage . The aircraft ' s twin engines are mounted under extended wing roots , which reach as far forward as the windscreen . Two Ivchenko Progress AI - 222 - 25 Full Authority Digital Engine Control ( FADEC ) produce a combined total of 49 kilonewtons ( 11 , 000 pound - force ) of thrust . An upgraded , " - 28 " engine is also on offer , increasing the thrust to . At a normal Take - Off Weight of , a Thrust - to - Weight ratio of 0 . 70 is achieved with the " - 25 " , or 0 . 77 with the " - 28 " engines . This compares with 0 . 65 for the BAE Systems Hawk 128 and 0 . 49 for the Aero Vodochody L - 159B . Maximum internal fuel capacity is . With two external combat fuel tanks the figure increases to . Maximum true airspeed is Mach 0 . 93 ( 572 knots ) , service ceiling is 12 , 500 metres ( 41 , 000 feet ) and load factors are from - 3 to + 9 g . Typical Take - Off speed and distance in a " clean " configuration are and 550 m ( 1 , 800 ft ) , whilst landing figures are and , respectively . Cross wind limit is . The Yakovlev Yak - 130 is equipped with the FBWS controlled engine intake blanking doors , in order to prevent the aircraft ' s engines from sustaining Foreign object damage when operating from unpaved runways and grass strips . The large canopies are sideways hinged . Combat training suite on the Yak - 130 includes simulated and real firing systems with air - to - air and air - to - surface missiles , bomb dropping , gun firing and on - board self - protection systems . Operational history . The first Yak - 130s entered Russian Air Force service in July 2009 . However , deliveries have been slow . On 29 May 2010 , one aircraft crashed near Lipetsk during testing ( both pilots ejected ) . As of January 2012 , it is believed that only eight aircraft are operational in their advanced jet trainer role . The first export orders were signed in 2006 , when Algeria ordered 16 Yak - 130s and Libya put an order for 6 planes . 3 Yaks were in delivered on 28 November 2011 , with the remaining aircraft soon following . Deliveries to Libya were expected in 2011 – 2012 , but the Libyan National Transitional Council cancelled Libya ' s order for Yak - 130s in September 2011 as part of a review of all existing arms contracts . Syria has agreed to purchase 36 aircraft , but delivery of these has been postponed by Russia due to the conflict in Syria . The Uruguayan air force is considering the aircraft for the future replacement of the A - 37 , while Russia has offered the Yak - 130 to Serbia as part of a US $ 3 billion loan for the upgrading of the Serbian armed forces . In October 2012 Russia took delivery of six fighters . The first batch of Yak - 130 combat trainers fly from the Irkut plant to the Borisoglebsk airfield [ Voronezh region ] after an extensive flight testing program , ” Col . Andrei Bobrun said . Operators . In April 2012 , Irkut Corporation president , Alexey Fedorov claimed that there are " more than ten potential customers " . In November 2012 , Sergey Kornev , a representative of the Rosoboronexport ( Russia ’ s state intermediary agency for exports / imports of defense - related products ) said Malaysia and several other countries are also interested of Yak - 130 . He was speaking at the China Airshow 2012 in the Chinese city of Zhuhai .