The Yak-130M features a number of upgrades, including an advanced AESA radar, avionics, radio communications and guidance suites.
One year after Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) presented the improved Yak-130M light fighter and training aircraft concept, the company sleepless its second prototype manufactured. The ‘002’ aircraft sported a light and dark gray pixelated livery with the ‘Red Star’ markings of the UAC and Russian Aerospace Forces, and will soon begin ground and taxi testing.
Reports say that a total of three prototypes are planned, with ‘001’ being presented as the first conceptual prototype, manufactured at Moscow’s Irkutsk Aviation Plant. UAC and russian media have officially identified an advanced AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar, avionics, radio communications and targeting suite upgrades for the Yak-130M.
This reflects the aggressive push in the highly competitive global market for the advanced trainer and light fighter aircraft segment, generally used by smaller regional powers and developing and underdeveloped countries. UAC executives also said that the development of the Yak-130M was influenced by current conflicts.
Completion of the second prototype of the Yak-130M aircraft.
Specialists from the Yakovlev company manufactured the second prototype of the Yak-130M training and combat aircraft as part of experimental design work. The plane is painted in the traditional pixel… pic.twitter.com/zQkP9KQfik
— 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐙 🇷🇺 🇷🇺 (@SMO_VZ) October 23, 2025
The second prototype of the Yak-130M
The UAC said in a Telegram post that the Yak-130M is “painted in the traditional pixel camouflage used in Russian aviation.” The publication further added “subsequently, the aircraft will join ground and flight tests. Meanwhile, the assembly of the third unit is underway.”
The company identified the new installed systems as the “BRLS-130R AESA onboard radar station,” the SOLT-130K “four-in-one optical laser-thermal television system,” the President-S130 “onboard defense complex” with a missile approach warning system, radar warning receivers, an active jammer and countermeasures dispenser, and the KSS-130 communication system. “The integration of new onboard systems will allow the Yak-130M to be used for training and combat purposes 24 hours a day and in difficult weather conditions,” the UAC said.
Russia presents the Yak-130M: a modernized aircraft for training and combat missions
The Yakovlev company presented at the International Military-Technical Forum “Army 2024” its design of the Yak-130M combat training aircraft with improved capabilities, said chief designer Dmitri… pic.twitter.com/dA4YyCrCOH
– Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 14, 2024
At the Army 2024 exhibition in Russia, UAC executives also saying which have modernized the “engine control system complexes” of the Yak-130M and reiterated that almost all components and spare parts have been indigenous, following Western sanctions after February 2022. The aircraft can carry A total of 2,500 kg of external payload at nine hardpoints and 20-round B-8M1 rocket pods were also displayed as part of its payload at Army 2024.
UAC said the “second prototype” of the Yak-130M “combat and training aircraft” is “part of experimental design work.” This suggests small-scale industrial activities and possibly limited acquisition by the RuAF (Russian Aerospace Forces) to demonstrate operational effectiveness.
It should be noted that the RuAF already uses the Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft in Ukraine. The Su-25 is also used by the air forces of Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan, with significant effectiveness in frontline tactical CAS (close air support) with guided and unguided munitions.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Yakolev present Yak 130M combat training aircraft at the #Army2024
• New advanced multimode radar
• Advanced sensors and expanded weapons envelope, including 4 electronic warfare pods
• New communication systems pic.twitter.com/VKKIlL4Fph— Military Africa (@militaryafrica) August 15, 2024
“The Yak-130M was developed based on the analysis and generalization of aviation experience in local and regional conflicts. The creation of light combat aircraft based on training and combat machines aligns with global trends in the development of military aviation,” Dmitry Popov, deputy chief designer of the Yak-130M, said in the UAC statement.
The future of the Yak-130M
Competitors to the Yak-130M in the advanced trainer and light fighter segment include KAI’s (Korea Aerospace Industries) FA-50, the Leonardo M-346, and planned future iterations of the Turkish Hurjet.
طبق مصاحبه آقای رومن تاسکاف همچین چیزی اسمشه تست پایلوت (خلبان آزمایش گر) شرکت هواپیمایی متحد روسیه UAC سه پروتوتایپ (پیش نمونه) هواپیمای تهاجمی سبک و آموزشی YAK-130M ساخته شده و در حال گذراندن آزمایشات خود است.
حالا این جنگنده چیست؟
خب این جنگنده همان یاک ۱۳۰ است که یک… pic.twitter.com/irMnTXdFDj—Reza_Mad (@maysam21901) October 14, 2024
“The Yak-130M is being created on the basis of the Yak-130, whose characteristics allow training pilots of fourth and fifth generation fighters. The main objective of the current modernization is to expand the combat capabilities of the aircraft. The updated aircraft may be armed with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles,” the UAC statement added.
Their armament with air-to-air and surface attack munitions makes them effective area and point defense aircraft, intended to confront both enemy fighters and ballistic and cruise missiles and drones. Some analysts also classify them as LIFT (Lead-In Fighter Trainers).
Therefore, the UAC’s plan to improve the marketability of the Yak-130M for this role through its operational use in the Russia-Ukraine war would only come to fruition if the RuAF acquires it. The Yak-130M’s BRLS-130R AESA radar fused with the R-77M BVR (Beyond Visual Range) air-to-air missile would also help relieve Russia’s overstretched national air defense systems.
Ukraine is reasonably successful in exploiting these problems, carrying out some deep and painful strikes on Russian cities and air bases with old Soviet-era Strizh high-speed drones.
The SOLT-130K targeting module for the Yak-130M is a new version of the SOLT-25 system, originally developed by the Krasnogorsk plant (ZENIT) for the Su-25SM3.
Includes:
gyroscopic stabilization,
video camera,
thermal imaging camera (MWIR, 640×512 pixels),
laser rangefinder-designator, https://t.co/nMQR4l2dE1 pic.twitter.com/WHtIVCBWAa– H. Memarian (@HEMemarian) October 10, 2025
The IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) became the latest customer for the Yak-130 in September 2023, when two of the first delivered aircraft were captured in official images sporting the Iranian national and IRIAF colors. The IRIAF Yak-130 has since been detected with a Russian R-73E short-range AAM and shot down drones in exercises.
This allowed a version of the point/area defense mission to be demonstrated, albeit against a simple target such as a drone and with the base training version. However, the IRIAF’s primary role for the Yak-130 is to train pilots for the long-awaited Russian Su-35S and aging F-4E Phantom II and F-14 Tomcats, while they still exist.
The Yak-130 is also used in AlgeriaVietnam, Bangladesh, BelarusMyanmar and Laos.
An IRIAF Yak-130 trainer carrying an R-73 training round, probably near Isfahan Air Base.
It has the serial number. 106, which means that the IRIAF has at least 6 Yak-130s in service. pic.twitter.com/cwsL2lBSKh
– Aᴍɪʀ (@AmirIGM) December 8, 2024
Yak-130
The Yak-130 was originally a collaborative project between the YDB (Yakovlev Design Bureau) and the Italian Aermacchi. While the project did not advance, both countries continued with their individual programs, resulting in aircraft of similar design.
In 2010, the M-346 Master of Rome, produced by Leonardo, which incorporated Aermacchi, entered service. Meanwhile, YDB’s Yak-130 complemented the aging fleet of Czechoslovakian Aero L-39 Albatross trainers.
The aircraft entered service with the RuAF in July 2009. The first limited series aircraft was produced in May 2003, followed by flight testing of the final production variant in April 2004.
Official testing took place in May 2005, and full testing of the advanced combat trainer, including turn and combat tactics testing, was concluded in December 2009.
The first four of the 12 Yak-130s arrived at RuAF units between February 2010 and April 2010, with another five aircraft delivered in April 2011, according to Russian reports. There are reportedly about 120 Yak-130s currently in service with the RuAF.
