09.06.05
Yakovlev’s high technologies at Le Bourget-2005 Air Show
Nikolai NOVICHKOV
The timing of the 46th Paris Air Show 2005 at Le Bourget coincided with an anniversary date, which is of particular importance in the history of Russian-French relations. Sixty years ago, on 20 June 1945, the legendary French air regiment “Normandie-Nieman” landed at Paris-Le Bourget Aerodrome. The French pilots returned to their homeland on the Yakovlev Yak-3 planes gifted by the Soviet government to France. All the war years the French regiment flied seven types of the Yak-series aircraft: trainers (UT-2 and Yak-7V), combat planes (Yak-1, Yak-9D, Yak-9T, and Yak-3) and a liaison aircraft (Yak-6).
In air engagements the “Normandie-Nieman” regiment downed 273 German aircraft - more than all other Free France's air regiments taken together that flied British and US aircraft.
For their heroic deeds during the war actions, many French pilots were awarded the Soviet orders and medals, with four of them being awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Among the latter were Marcel Albert, Roland de La Poype, Jacques Andre and Marcel Lefevre.
In 1945 Alexander Yakovlev, chief designer of the Yak-series planes, became an officer of the French Legion of Honor and received French Officer's Cross in addition to its Soviet awards.
The 60th anniversary of triumphant return of the “Normandia-Nieman” air regiment to France will be widely celebrated during the 46th Paris Air Show 2005 at Le Bourget. A special exposition will be deployed at Yakovlev's stand at the exhibition, a special conference will be held at the National Aerospace Museum Le Bourget, and the regiment's veterans will be awarded service medals. The Yak-3 fighter (actual Normandie-Nieman aircraft) will be demonstrated on the show's static display and demo flights will involve a replica Yak-3 plane built at the Orenburg aircraft plant.
To date, the Yakovlev Design Bureau has gained unique scientific and technological advances in such areas as unmanned aerial vehicles, training and combat training aircraft as well as commercial short- and medium haul aircraft.
In recent years the aircraft industries in several countries needing the latest high technologies have drawn their attention to Yakovlev's potential in the field of trainer/combat trainer and commercial aircraft development.
The Yak-130 combat trainer
The project was developed under the Russian Air Force's order and occupies a prominent place among the company's air programs.
The Russian Air Force (RAF) has ordered a pilot batch of the Yakovlev Yak-130 combat training aircraft. An appropriate contract covering the manufacturing of 12 aircraft within three years (2005-07) was signed with the Nizhny Novgorod-based Sokol aircraft plant. The first plane will be built in mid-2006, the last twelfth - in late 2007, Nikolai Dolzhenkov, Yakovlev's first deputy director general and technical director said to Aerospace Complex.
In his words all the twelve planes of the pilot batch will be identical to the first two prototype Yak-130s in a serial configuration.
Under a contract between the Air Force and the Yakovlev Company, the Sokol plant is building a third prototype aircraft in a serial configuration. The plane will be paid by the end of 2005. For the time being, airframe of the third machine is completed and onboard equipment and units are being installed.
Dolzhenkov noted that the Yak-130 program includes two main phases of work. In the first phase planned to be completed in December this year, the Yak-130 should obtain the Air Force's preliminary conclusion on its compliance with the technical requirements and the possibility of launching its full-scale production. In the second phase scheduled for 2006. an official test report for the Yak-130 should be received. During this phase the plane will be tested in all flight regimes, including spinning conditions, as well as tried out for using its overall mix of guided and unguided armaments.
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Two prototype aircraft. No.01 and No.02, are being prepared for the official state tests. The first prototype Yak-130 in a production configuration has virtually completed a full program of manufacturer's tests and soon will be handed over to the RAF's State Flight Testing Center (SFTC) for official testing. Following short manufacturer's tests, the second Yak-130, which got off the ground on 5 April 2005, will join the first. A preliminary conclusion on the Yak-130 in a trainer configuration is planned to be received following 120 flights.
The third prototype aircraft No. 03 to be built by October this year is planned to be used for unguided and guided onboard armament testing. Following the completion of the whole official test program at SFTC, the Yak-130 will be certified as a combat training aircraft.
"For the Yakovlev Design Bureau and lrkut Corporation, the Yak-130 official testing is a priority to the extent that it was decided not to send the prototype aircraft to the 46th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. Nevertheless, the plane will be flight displayed during the MAKS-2005 Moscow International Aerospace Show in Zhukovsky", explained the company's deputy director general Arkady Gurtovoi.
Yakovlev is considering equipping the export versions of the Yak-130 with the AL-55 engines instead oft he Al-222-25s. A Yak-130 version powered by the AL-55 engines is being offered to the Indian Air Force.
MS-21 short - and medium-haul aircraft
One of the major results of the Yakovlev's work in 2003 was the victory of the MS-21 aircraft project in a bid for short- and medium-haul aircraft for domestic and foreign airlines. The model has been developed on the basis of Yak-242 type by the Yakovlev Design Bureau in association with the llyushin Aviation Complex. The design rests not only on scientific and technological experience of work on the Yak-242 but also provides for maximum commonality of on-board systems, equipment and power plant with those of the MTA (Medium-Transport Aircraft) being developed by Russia's companies llyushin and lrkut and India's HAL Corporation.
The MS-21 airplane Was readily embraced by the aircraft market since it meets all the requirements and is able to compete against similar Boeing and Airbus aircraft, outdoing them in price, fuel efficiency and passenger comfort.
For instance, aircraft of the MS-21 project were compared against Airbus company's A320 and Boeing's latest models, B717 and B737. The Russian aircraft features an improved passenger comfort cabin, enhanced (up to I7g/psgr • km) fuel efficiency and reasonable price. In terms of cost-to-effectiveness ratio, the new Russian-built aircraft will significantly outperform similar advanced aircraft offered by the West. It is planned to fit to the aircraft, with the assistance of TsAGI (Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute), an aero-dynamically perfect "high-speed" wing. This will increase the aircraft cruising speed to over M=0.8, a very important characteristic for current advanced passenger aircraft. The new development will employ new technologies ;md materials. For instance, developers of the new power-plant have proposed several variants of an engine with a minimum thrust between 11,000 and 12,000 kgf. Among them are PS-90A-12 and PS-12 engines as well as TRDD-2005 advanced double-flow turbojet engine. It is planned that the new Russian-built engines will feature a very high specific fuel consumption rale, up to 0.5kg/kg(f)-h. Also, it is possible to fit the new aircraft with foreign-built engines, for instance, with V2500A, CFM56-7B26, and V2527-A5.
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The MS-21 aircraft is to replace in Russia all models of Tu-154B and Tu-I54M aircraft as well as Yak-42. It is planned to build within 20 years around 600 aircraft of the MS-21 family, with an annual production rate of 30 to 36 machines. During 2009-2008 it is planned to sell around 640 MS-21 aircraft, of which around 415 examples will go to Russia's domestic market and 225 to foreign customers. It is planned to build on the basis of MS 21 a family of aircraft. Those will be an MS-21-100 aircraft to carry 132 or 116 passengers in a two-class configuration, an MS-21-200 to carry 156 or 140 passengers in a two-class configuration, an MS-21-300 to carry 174 or 158 passengers in a two-class configuration, an MS-2IK to carry cargoes, an MS-21KP to carry cargoes and passengers. If necessary, developers are prepared to offer to the market an MS-21 in a three-class configuration or in a VIP version.
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Russia's Federal Civil Aviation Development Program for 2002-20I0 to build on and beyond till 2015 estimates construction of the short and medium haul aircraft at US$ 600 million, of which only US$ 210 million is expected to be provided by the national budget, whereas the remaining funds (US$ 390 million) are to be obtained by developers from non budgetary sources.
The MS-21 project has currently aroused interest among several countries to whom the Russian company has presented all necessary feasibility study results.
Source: Aerospace Complex, 2005, vol. 4, ¹ 2
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