Russian Military Presses on Designers of Training Aircraft, Demand Grows

"Designers of Yak-152 from Irkut corporation were asked to hurry up, because the military need more training airplanes. Defense ministry made that plain they were ready to buy Yak-152, and the corporation said they could produce 50 airplanes per year", said the interviewee.


He added that the plane’s trials in critical flight conditions were going on, and soon it would be tested in the spin flight. Another candidate for the Russian military contract is Austrian airplane Diamond DART-550.

Another insider, a department commander at one of the Russian air academies, says the Russian and the Austrian airplanes are same-type.

"It’s all about which of them will be easier to use. Diamond is bad because it’s plastic. After all, Yak is produced in Russia, and materials it will be made of seem to me more preferable", said the expert.

For reference

The primary trainer airplane Yak-152 performed the maiden flight on September 29, 2016. In spring 2018, it was reported about localization of the aircraft engine. Production of the German powerplant RED-A03T was delegated to a company named Russo-Balt. Earlier, Mil.Press Today reported that Yak-152 was tested in critical flight conditions.

After training course on Yak-152, pilots will continue practice on Yak-130 jets. Thanks to similar avionics, cockpit ergonomics and indication, the perspective airplane integrates into the two-stage pilot training system, being followed by the more sophisticated operational trainer Yak-130.

Turboprop airplanes DART-550 are designed by Austrian Diamond Aircraft Industries for basic training in flight schools. The key difference of DART-550 from the previously built two flight prototypes DART-450 is the turboprop engine General Electric GE H75-100. Max takeoff weight of DART-550 is 2,400 kg, max speed near ground is 460 kph, max endurance is 8 hours.