Russia to start Yak-130 trainer deliveries to Algeria in 2009

Russia will begin deliveries of new Yak-130 combat trainers to Algeria in January 2009, the plane's manufacturer said on Wednesday. "We have a contract with Algeria to supply 16 aircraft," Oleg Demchenko, head of Russia's Irkut aircraft-manufacturing corporation, said at the Berlin Air Show ILA2008. "We are planning to start deliveries in January 2009."

He said Irkut had secured orders for a total of 150 Yak-130s from other countries and the company planned to gain 50% of the global market for combat trainers after 2010.

"This market has great potential because many countries are due to start a complete overhaul of their fleets of combat trainers and the demand for new planes may be as high as 2,500 aircraft," Demchenko said.

"I am sure that we will be able to secure half of this market because our plane is superior to any modern aircraft of its type," the official said.

The Yak-130 single-seat aircraft is a trainer for fourth and fifth generation fighters that can be also used as a light strike aircraft. With a production line launched in May 2003, the plane is also marketed for export.

It is a highly maneuverable plane with an extended range of about 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and a maximum speed of 1,060 km/h (600 m/h) in level flight. It can carry a payload of up to 3,000 kg (6,600 pounds), consisting of a variety of Russian and Western developed weapons.