Being the first foreign country to acquire the Yak 130, Algeria has incorporated this craft in its fleet,well before Russia and seems to have a clear idea on the true capabilities of this aircraft in future conflict, reported defence-blog.com.

Based on recent intelligence, conflicts in Libya and Syria have shown the importance of light jets in the CAS and COIN role. the Galeb was able to operate despite the no flying zone implemented in Libya and L39 was the workhorse of the army of Syrian Air.

The Algerian air force COIN experience with the Albatros which was also the COIN principal trainer, seems to duplicate their experience with the Yak 130, a craft with superb stealth and agility qualities .

Two years ago, Algeria had expressed its desire to acquire thirty Yak 130 . At that time, the Algiers requirements were a heavier armament, with a twin-tube 23 mm gun pod and the ability to drop smart munitions. Today, two recent informations, confirm the changes that will affect the newest member of the Russian aviation industry.

First, the probable integration of Italo-Brazilian radar Scipio-01. This radar designed for the needs of the Brazilian Air Force’s for their AMX fleet, and offered by Italian Selex Galileo. Reuters recently reported that Russia intends to integrate the radar on the Yak 130, to give it real air-air and air ground capabilities.

The second information was revealed by the blog bmpd, supported by photos, the Gromov flight institute, in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, began flight tests of a Yak 130 prototype, with a laser range finder, located in the curvature of the nose of the aircraft.

These changes correspond to the requirements of the Algerian army, although no conformations were made by the Yak complex or the Algerian authorities, it remains a probability to consider. Currently the Yak 130 is operated by four countries, Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus and Russia.

Secretdifa3.net