Russia to deliver Yak-130 Jets to Syria
Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria. Russian newspaper reported Monday, in apparent support for President Bashar al-Assad and open defiance of international condemnation of his regime’s bloody crackdown. The respected business daily Kommersant, citing an unidentified source close to Russia’s Rosoboron export state arms trader, said the $550 million deal envisions the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft. A spokesman for Rosoboron export refused to comment on the report.
The Kommersant business daily reported Monday that the deal was signed in December with Russia’s Rosoboronexport state defence corporation. Kommersant cited a source close to the agency as saying that production of the jets would begin once the advance payment was made.
Yak-130 is an advanced pilot training aircraft, able to replicate characteristics of Russian 4+ generation fighters, as well as the Sukhoi T-50 fifth generation fighter. The developer estimates that the plane can cover up to 80% of the entire pilot flight training program. In addition to its training purpose, it is also able to function as a light-attack and reconnaissance plane. It can carry a combat load of 3,000 kg, including weapons, auxiliary fuel tanks, weapon guidance, electronic intelligence and electronic countermeasures pods.
Russia 150 orders to be delivered between 2009 & 2015. First production aircraft received in late July 2009. Russia has a total requirement of 200 aircraft, Algeria 16 ordered, Libya 6 on order, Vietnam 8 on order, and Syria was negotiating for purchase since 2009.
The twin-engine Yak-130 is a combat trainer jet that can also be used to attack ground targets. The two-seater entered serial production in 2009, with the defense ministry placing an order for 55 of the combat trainers from the Irkut defense corporation, according to Russian press reports.
The jets destined for Syria will be built separately from the ones commissioned by the Russian air force, Kommersant said.
“As soon as Syria transfers the advance to Russia, the factory will immediately assume the assembly of the second set for Syria,” an unnamed source told the paper.
A Rosoboron export spokesman declined to comment.
If confirmed, the deal would cement Russian opposition to international efforts to put pressure on President al-Assad’s regime over its attempts to snuff out the country’s uprising.
The report of the sale comes the same day that Human Rights Watch called Russia’s backing of the Syrian regime “immoral.”
The US has expressed repeated concerns over Russia’s military trade ties with Syria, which have continued despite the violent crackdown on protests pursued by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, which along with China has blocked United Nations Security Council action against Assad, has defended the ties as legal under international law.
“We are only trading items with Syria that are not banned by international law,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week.
The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have died over 10 months.
