Iranian Air Force Receives Its First Two Yak-130 Trainer Aircraft From Russia
On Saturday, September 2, unofficial Iranian sources published images on social media indicating that the Iranian Air Force had received Yak-130 light attack and trainer aircraft manufactured by the Russian Yakovlev company. The images in question show two Yak-130 aircraft, 7-9700 and 7-901, being tested by Iranian pilots at the Shahid Babaei Air Base in Isfahan. Hours after the aforementioned reports surfaced on social media, Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim News announced, citing military officials, that Russian-made Yak-130 trainers had been put into the service of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Air Force.
According to Tasnim news agency, an Iranian Army written statement on the matter stated, “Several Yak-130 trainers were received and deployed to the Shahid Babaei Air Base in Isfahan in order to improve the Air Force’s training and combat capability.” The article further stated that the training aircraft in question will meet the requirements of Iranian pilots to become familiar with fourth generation aircraft.
The delivery of the subsonic, two-seat Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainers to Iran, which can mimic the characteristics of Russian 4th and 5th generation fighters, has also put Su-35 sales between Iran and Russia back on the agenda. As is well known, the Iranian Air Force is currently made up of outdated aircraft that were purchased from the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, Iran, which has been hunting for a new and advanced aircraft for a long time, has been highly interested in the Russian Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft since 2021. Although Iranian officials have regularly stated that Tehran has agreed to purchase a large number of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Moscow this year, these claims have so far yielded no results. Although some reports indicate that the Su-35 deal was canceled or delayed, the latest delivery may indicate that Iran will receive the long-awaited Su-35s, albeit later than expected.
On the other hand, the Iranian Ministry of Defense also announced that mass production of the ‘Yasin,’ a domestically developed jet trainer designed by the Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) and manufactured by the Iranian Aircraft Manufacturing Industries (HESA), had begun. Developed to replace the Iranian Air Force’s current Northrop F-5B Freedom Fighters and Chengdu FT-7N Air Guards, the jet in question can meet the needs of Iranian pilots to learn the basic tactics and techniques of fourth generation aircraft while also serving as a light fighter aircraft, just like to the Yak-130.