Yak-130M upgrades and production plans

Jun 25

Irkutsk Aviation Plant general director Andrey Soynov says the plant expects demand for the aircraft to grow and is reorganizing production alongside testing. He describes a future continuous-flow assembly line intended to achieve the required output. Yak-130 deputy chief designer Dmitry Popov says modernization aims to improve combat capabilities through onboard radar, a pod-mounted optical/laser/thermal-imaging targeting system, a pod-mounted defensive suite and communications enabling tactical-data exchange with aircraft and ground control. He says targeting improvements increase guided and unguided weapons accuracy and expand the weapons range: laser- and satellite-guided bombs, four cannons, and racks carrying four 100-kilogram bombs each, totaling sixteen bombs per aircraft. He concludes that the updated systems enable day and night use in fair and adverse weather. These are the officials' technical and production statements; the release provides no independent performance demonstration or achieved production total.

On June 25, 2026, UAC released statements by Irkutsk Aviation Plant director Andrey Soynov and Yak-130 deputy chief designer Dmitry Popov on Yak-130M production preparation and combat modernization. Soynov described an ongoing production reorganization and planned continuous-flow assembly to meet expected demand. Popov outlined targeting, defensive and communications systems, greater weapons accuracy, guided-bomb capability, four cannons, racks for sixteen 100-kilogram bombs and day/night operation in different weather conditions. The capabilities and expected production benefits remain attributed manufacturer claims; the release does not establish completed assembly conversion, realized demand growth or independently verified combat performance.