OREANDA-NEWS. November 14, 2011. The Russian Ministry of Defense and IRKUT Corporation will soon sign a contract on the Yak-130 Combat Trainer delivery, said the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin during his visit to the Irkutsk aviation plant (IAP) – the subsidiary of JSC IRKUT Corporation.

Purpose of the visit of Alexander Zelin - to make sure that the company is ready to fulfill state defense contracts. Accompanied by the President of IRKUT Corporation Alexey Fedorov and the General director of IAP Alexander Veprev, the Commander-in-Chief visited aggregate-assembly and mechanical assembly units, final assembly shop and flight-testing unit of the plant.

“There is no problem with the fulfillment of state defense order. We understand that there is no other company that could produce Yak-130 with such level of quality. It’s encouraging that the company entered the foreign market with the product. I think IRKUT has good prospects”, said Alexander Zelin after the visit.

According to the Commander-in-Chief, “Yak-130 contracting is currently being finalized. Price terms were basically approved. Documents assigning to be the executer of the state defense order on the Yak-130 aircraft manufacturing for the Defense Ministry needs are being worked out”.

Also according to the Commander-in-Chief there is a plan to create a piloting group flying theYak-130 combat trainers which will represent the Russian Air Force in the country and abroad along with the famous Russkiye Vityazi (The Russian Knights) and Strizhi (The Swifts).

Yak-130 is not the only area of cooperation between the Russian MoD and JSC IRKUT Corporation. Both sides continue working on the Su-30SM project - super-manoeuvrable fighter jet which will be manufactured at the Irkutsk aviation plant for the MoD needs. The aircraft is designed for combat use as well as for training of the flight personnel. Alexander Zelin said: “I think we are able to make recommendations for the aircraft to pass the check tests very soon. Initially 28 Su-30SM are planed to be delivered, however the number is not final and could be increased in the future. The first two Su-30SM fighters are expected to be supplied to the Russian Air Force as early as next year”.

Alexey Fedorov, President of JSC IRKUT Corporation said: “The contract with the Russian Air Force is a historic event for us. For about 20 years we haven’t delivered an aircraft to our Armed forces, though hundreds of combat aircraft were manufactured for overseas customers at the IAP. Now historical justice is restored – Russian Air Force re-ordered our aircraft. This also facilitates our activities at the international market because foreign customers often ask why the Russian Army doesn’t buy your aircraft. I do join the Commander-in-Chief’s opinion that IRKUT Corporation is fully responsible to perform state defense order”.