UAC will develop a new MiG-TCB training aircraft, which will replace the L-39
MOSCOW, Dec 28 – RIA Novosti. OKB named after. Mikoyan of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec) will develop a new single-engine training aircraft for the Russian Aerospace Forces, which will be inexpensive to operate and replace the L-39, follows from the UAC press release.
"The Mikoyan Design Bureau ... is working on the creation of a new training complex for the training of pilots. Its main element will be the single-engine MiG-TCB aircraft. Basic pilot training is a serious and lengthy stage, during which suitability for a specific type of aviation is determined, and piloting techniques are being tested. On training aircraft, the solution of such serious tasks as maneuvering with heavy overloads, preparing for combat missions, and so on begins. Since the 1970s, the L-39 jet aircraft has been used for this purpose," the report says.
The main training aircraft of the Russian Air Force, and before that the Russian Air Force and earlier the Soviet Union Air Force, was the L-39 aircraft, developed in the 60s and 70s in Czechoslovakia. Since 1972, it has been selected as the main training aircraft of the Warsaw Pact countries.
According to The Military Balance magazine, as of 2023, the Russian Armed Forces have 118 L-39s for pilot training. The website of the Ministry of Defense notes that the L-39 is designed to train flight personnel, and some modifications can be used as light attack aircraft and fighters.
The L-39 was mass-produced only until 1999.
"Support for the operation of the aircraft, which currently carries out basic pilot training, causes us great doubts, therefore, a new training tool is required that will effectively train flight and technical personnel," said Sergey Korotkov, General Designer - Deputy General Director of the UAC, whose words are quoted in the release. The corporation notes that the new training aircraft will be created in a single-engine version so that it is more affordable and inexpensive to operate.
As follows from the data of The Military Balance, 109 Yak-130 pilots are also used in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation today to train pilots. In the 2000s, the Yak-130 won the tender for another Mikoyan aircraft, the MiG–AT, and was chosen as the main training aircraft for Russian military pilots. Both the Yak-130 and MiG-AT are twin–engine aircraft, which makes them more expensive to operate in relation to the single-engine L-39.
"We are creating the cheapest, easiest to operate – both in piloting and in maintenance – a single–engine aircraft that fully meets the requirements for the basic training stage," said Andrey Nedosekin, Deputy Managing Director of the OKB of Operational and Tactical Aviation, Director of the Mikoyan Design Bureau, Chief Designer of the OKB, words which are given in the release.
According to Alexey Shukailo, chief designer of the MiG-TCB training complex, after studying the various engine options that are available in Russia today, the designers of the Mikoyan Design Bureau made a choice in favor of the AI-222-25 engine. Today, this engine is used on the Yak-130 aircraft and is mass-produced at the Salyut production complex of the United Engine Corporation (part of Rostec). To speed up work and reduce costs, the designers make maximum use of the reserve available at the Mikoyan Design Bureau in the MiG-TC project, including the previously created project of the MiG-AT advanced training aircraft. In particular, the basis for the cabin of the new aircraft was the well-proven cabin of the MiG-AT.
