VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW
Yakovlev upgrade seen as cost-effective solution to requirement for 400 trainers
The Russian air force is rethinking its selection of the Sukhoi Su-49 as its future elementary trainer. It is shifting towards the Yakovlev Yak-52M as a more cost-effective solution to meet its requirement for up to 400 aircraft.
The air force has completed the initial upgrade of a Yak-52 to the M standard.
The Su-49 emerged as winner of the Russian competition in April last year, beating the Yakovlev Yak-152, an all-new design powered by the Vedeneyev M-9F 420hp (315kW) nine-cylinder radial piston engine and equipped with a glass cockpit.
The Su-49 should have received research and development funding from this year, but the defence ministry and Sukhoi appear to have been unable to agree a price.
Sukhoi general director Mikhail Pogosyan says the Su-49 programme is delayed, adding: "We will not pay for the development effort from our own funds unless a firm order is placed by the customer. Then we can expect the research and development work to be compensated as payment comes in for delivered aircraft."
Meanwhile, Yakovlev and the Russian air force's 308 aircraft repair station in Ivanovo have converted a Yak-52 into the Yak-52M demonstrator.
The Yak-52M is intended as an upgrade of "several hundred" of the more than 1,800 Yak-52s built. The upgrade made its debut at the MAKS 2003 Moscow air show last month, where Yakovlev claimed it received favourable comments from air force officials.
The air force provided Yakovlev with funding for the upgrade earlier this year. The initial aircraft retains the Yak-52's Vedeneyev M-14 engine, but in future it will be replaced by the more advanced M-9F. The wing has been strengthened and avionics upgraded for night and instrument flying.
Yakovlev has also signed an agreement with Odessa-based Ukraviaremont to upgrade Ukrainian air force Yak-52s. The work will include airframe overhauls and fitting the aircraft with ZMKB Progress AI-450 turboprops.
Source: Flight International
