Story ID: 395
Vietnam Places Order for Yak-130 Trainers
By: Vladimir Karnozov
Caption: With its order for around a dozen, Vietnam becomes the seventh customer for the advanced trainer, which is also being developed for close air support.
Word Count: 311
Vietnam has ordered Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainers, the Moscow-based Vedomosti newspaper has reported. The contract is believed to be for about a dozen aircraft to equip a single squadron. The price tag was reported to be $350 million, taking account of air-launched weapons, training, and after-sales support packages. In Vietnamese service, the Yak-130 will replace aged Aero L-39 jet trainers procured some 40 years ago.

If Hanoi lives up to recent media reports about it also acquiring Sukhoi Su-57E fifth-generation fighters, it will remain among the top five importers of Russian weapons. Following procurement of Su-27SK/UBK fighters in the 1990s, Vietnam added 24 Su-30MK2 two-seat multirole aircraft in 2003-2014, to become the third largest “Flanker” operator in Asia after China and India. The Yak-130 selection seems logical, as this type is advertised as the best option for training crews for the Flanker. Outfitted with a glass cockpit and the reprogrammable KSU-130 fly-by-wire flight control system, the Yak-130 is able to emulate the handling qualities of various aircraft types.

Apart from Russia, the Yak-130 is currently in service with five overseas customers. Algeria has received 16, Belarus eight, and Myanmar 16, the latter country having accepted the last batch in December 2019. Shipments continue to Bangladesh and Laos, which have ordered 24 and 10, respectively.

Russia is working on the new SM-100 engine to increase the gross weight of the Yak-130, currently 10 tonnes, as well as the weapons load to three. It would replace the Ukrainian-designed Ivchenko-Progress AI-222-25, whose production was localized at the Salyut plant in Moscow. The newer engine should also support the Yak-130’s reputation as the most fuel-efficient jet in service with the Russian Air and Space Force (VKS). In the decade following the completion of state acceptance trials, the VKS has procured about 110 aircraft and is considering taking 150 more.
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