Irkut has signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply additional Yakovlev Yak-130 advanced jet trainer aircraft to the national air force. Irkut president Oleg Demchenko was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Feb 13 that the company will supply a total of 12 aircraft for formation of Russia's third aerobatics team. "We will supply five planes in 2014, and the remaining seven - in 2015," Demchenko daid. The MoD has already started formation of a group at the Borisoglebsk training centre in central Russia. "Our test pilot, Oleg Kononenko, has been training the Yak-130 instructors at this centre for six months," Demchenko added. Developed by Yakovlev design bureau, the Yak-130 is a subsonic, swept mid-wing advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed to provide basic and advanced training to pilots for flying fourth and fifth-generation fighter aircraft, such as Sukhoi T-50.
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