According to Iranian media reports, jets ordered by Iran have arrived in the country. However, these aircraft are not the Su-35 Flanker fighter jets that Tehran had hoped to receive this year.
On Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the country had received subsonic Yak-130 trainer aircraft, citing undated images and videos purporting to show the new aircraft with IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) markings. At least two Yak-130s are reportedly located in Iran’s central Isfahan province and are currently in IRIAF service.
The Iranian army displays a Russian-made YAK-130 combat training aircraft on Saturday, September 2, 2023. Iran’s news agencies reported on Saturday that a Russian-made YAK-130 combat training aircraft was in the country and had joined the air force. (Iranian Army via AP) Associated Press
Although these trainers, which can also be used as light attack aircraft, are not nearly as capable as the Su-35, their delivery could indicate that Russia will also deliver this fighter at a later date.
In recent weeks there have been increasing signs and reports that Moscow had broken a previous agreement to sell 24-50 of these super-maneuverable multi-role Sukhoi fighter jets to Tehran. Iran has supplied Russia with hundreds of drones, mostly disposable loitering munitions, intended for use in the ongoing war against Ukraine.
Farzin Nadimi, defense and security analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, could neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of the photos and videos of the Yak-130 delivery. Nevertheless, he argued that if the delivery is indeed confirmed, it “could be a logical step before the acquisition of fourth-generation fighter jets” and “also suggests that the Su-35 deal will be implemented at some point in the future. “
Iranian officials had expressed optimism that Russia would deliver Su-35s as early as March this year. That optimism has since cooled, and a report suggested that Russia had not fulfilled its part of a deal to deliver 50 Su-35s to Iran, which Tehran had paid for in 2021 and was expected to receive this year .
There has long been widespread speculation that Iran would at least receive the approximately 24 Su-35s that Russia has already built for Egypt, but the country has since canceled the order. The Ukraine war may have disrupted previous delivery plans and schedules.
Either way, the delivery of the Yak-130 seems to confirm that Russia is supplying at least something to Iran, after everything Tehran has delivered to Moscow in the last 18 months.
The last time Russia transferred Iranian military aircraft was in the 2000s, and that was just six Su-25 Frogfoot fighter jets, which were also subsonic aircraft.
In 2019, the US Department of Defense’s Defense Intelligence Agency speculated that Iran would request Yak-130s as well as S-400 air defense missiles, Bastion coastal defense systems, T-90 tanks and Su-30 jets from Russia after the UN arms embargo expired October 2020. Tehran has since opted for the more advanced Su-35 over the Su-30.
Tehran’s interest in the Yak-130 trainer may seem strange given its repeated promotion of its domestically manufactured trainers. In March, Iran inaugurated the production line of its indigenous HESA Yasin trainer aircraft. Like the Yak-130, the Yasin can train pilots in the basics of more advanced fourth-generation fighters and serve as a light attack aircraft.
Aside from independently developing such training aircraft, Iranian officials dubiously claim that the country can produce fourth-generation aircraft.
Still, the Yasin and other similar Iranian aircraft may not provide Iranian pilots with the specific skills they need to operate the Su-35.
“Although Iran has equipped the latest update of its Yasin jet trainer prototype with a glass cockpit and some advanced features, it is still a long way from mass production,” Nadimi told me.
Additionally, he added that indigenous Iranian training aircraft “are not known to have been designed specifically for Russian fourth-generation combat technology.”
Consequently, the delivery of these Yak-130 subsonic trainers could indicate that Iran will eventually receive its long-awaited Su-35s. And as far as Tehran is concerned, it would be much better late than never.
Follow me up Twitter.
I am a journalist/columnist who writes about military and political affairs in the Middle East.
Read moreRead less