Free Republic

Russia’s Irkut Corp. is well known in the Asia Pacific region because of the mighty vectored-thrust Sukhoi Su-30 series multirole fighters in service with Indian and Malaysian air forces, numbering about 200 aircraft. The maker also supplied Su-27UB operational trainers to China; and a number of Asian nations still operate swing-wing MiG-23U trainers and MiG-27 strike aircraft built at the corporation’s manufacturing site in Irkutsk city, western Siberia. The company has been fostering a very special relationship with India since the mid-1960s, when it supplied Antonov An-12 tactical transports. Today, about half of the Indian air force fighter squadrons are...

Yak-130: New Russia’s Most Successful Aircraft Mikhail Barabanov The Yak 130 advanced jet trainer developed by the Yakovlev design bureau is Russia’s most successful new aircraft, both commercially and technologically, since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Of all the new aircraft developed by the former Soviet states since 1991, the Yak 130 has been mass-produced in the largest numbers. Its design has also been used in two very promising models in foreign countries. The only other project which comes close to the Yak 130 in terms of its commercial success is the Su-30MKI fighter, developed specifically for the Indian...

Russian state bank Vneshtorgbank (VTB) has bought around 5 percent in European aerospace and defense giant EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), an EADS spokesman said on Sunday. "VTB has informed us that it has bought a stake of 5.02 percent in EADS," said the spokesman.