Production of Su-30SM2 fighters and Yak-130 combat trainers at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.
Could the Russians consider using the Yak-130 to intercept drones like Ukraine's Yak-52 has been doing?
Yak-52 Kill Marks Hint At Success In Ukraine’s Drone War
For the first time, a Ukrainian Yak-52 propeller-driven trainer has appeared with markings that could indicate a string of aerial victories against Russian drones.
It certainly seems like a very effective and low-cost solution to me.
The Yak-130 could be a drone killer/hunter. It could be armed with a gun pod(SNPU-130), an R-73 at each wing tip and a small set of Verba on hardpoints, and some S-5 rocket pods with an S- rocket upgrade. 5Kor (guided), but add a proximity fuse, and the S-5 family already has several FRAG rockets in service, so you could have a mix of FRAG and guided proximity fuse depending on what you're up against, and if you develop one timed fuse, could fire it at a swarm of drones, they already have the S-5M1 which produces 75 shrapnel, S-5MO steel ring frag 360 fragments, S-5KP HEAT/FRAG a shaped charge with wire wrapped fragmentation jacket and finally S-5S flechette which could explode right before the drone and act like a huge shotgun blast firing 1,000 flechettes, which would be good for drone swarms. It could even add a targeting pod and even an EW pod or a laser pod that could be used to kill a drone in a soft-kill mode.
The Russians have been using the Su-30SM to hunt drones in the operational rear, but they could be using the Yak-130 to perform this same function at a much lower cost. The purpose of a multirole Yak-130 would be to free up other aircraft to carry out their missions. There is no need to send a Su-35, Su-30SM or Mig-31 to shoot down a drone if you have a Yak-130 which can easily do the same job but at a much cheaper cost and that would leave the Su -30SM, Su-35 or MiG-31 to standby on-station for more dangerous and more capable targets such as enemy fighters.
Su-30sm fighter jet of Russian Aerospace Forces destroys enemy UAVs in area of responsibility of Vostok Group of Forces
Su-30SM fighter jet of Russian Aerospace Forces destroys enemy UAVs in area of responsibility of Tsentr Group of Forces
Su-30SM fighter jet wipe out enemy unmanned aerial vehicles in area of Zapad Group of Forces.
Russian Defense Ministry by @mod_russia
For Ukraine to use the Yak-52 in this role allows them to free up more capable fighters to carry out other missions. Based on this mode of employment, in my opinion, the EMB-314 Super Tucano A-29A\B from Brazil is one of the possible solutions with regard to the coverage of important stationary objects of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the operational rear, from of operational-tactical reconnaissance actions and targeting of Iranian UAVs (Geran-1/2 and Arash) and, in general, can intercept such targets in pre-defined zones:
- has two 12.7 mm BUILT-IN machine guns (for Orlan UAVs- Type 10 - enough "for the eyes"), supply of cartridges - 200 for each barrel, in addition, it can carry a 20 mm automatic cannon at the end ventral;
- speed - 520-590 km/h cruising and maximum, perhaps slower, reaching any quite capable enemy reconnaissance UAV;
- has a laser sight and rangefinder;
- the cost of one hour of operation is 500-700 dollars.
The need would be around 10 to 12 units, although the Embraer company usually sells them in batches of 30 units (24 combat + 6 training units).
I think that it would not be difficult to establish patrols of these aircraft in certain areas of the operational rear (for example, in the area of air bases and other important military infrastructure installations).
Can patrol - up to 8 hours (with suspended tanks).
I think that questions may arise only with the detection and targeting of enemy operational-tactical reconnaissance UAVs.
I believe that both sides can benefit from this method of employing less capable aircraft but with a high potential to fulfill certain functions that other fighters perform but at a much higher cost and a certainly disadvantageous risk.
