Irkut Declines To Enter USAF T-X Program

Though Russia's Irkut is working to expand the Yakovlev 130's role from a fast-jet trainer to an attack aircraft, a senior company official acknowledges that the aircraft will not be vying for the largest trainer competition. The Pentagon is planning to buy at least 350 T-38C replacements beginning in fiscal 2013 or 2014, and the list of competitors is long. But, Konstantin Popovich, head of Yakovlev's engineering center, acknowledges that the Yak-130 is unlikely to be on it ...