“The L-39 is a single-engine plane and its avionics no longer fit that of modern warplanes like Su-30, Su-35 and MiG-35. This means that it can no longer be used as a trainer for modern-day pilots,” Aksyonenko said.
He added that unlike the Czech trainer, Russia’s Yak-130 was designed to ensure the pilots’ maximum adaptability to flying modern combat aircraft.
Vietnam’s Air Defense Command is also mulling the purchase of trainer versions of modern Sukhoi fighter jets for the new center to make sure that it turns out pilots fully prepared for active service.
“The Vietnamese need a trainer with characteristics that are as close as possible to those of supersonic warplanes their young pilots will fly on. However, the subsonic Yak-130 is fully equipped to imitate a plane’s behavior in conditions of supersonic flight which is a regime rarely used even by modern fighter jets,” Aksyonenko said.
“And again, the economic factor and cost minimization also matter here,” he added.
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