Just a few months after an Iranian Yak-130 was shot down by an Israeli Air Force F-35, Russia has armed its upgraded Yak-130M with the President-S130 onboard defensive suite to improve the aircraft’s survivability.
Russia’s state-owned arms conglomerate Rostec announced that the Yak-130M — the modernized version of the Yak-130 trainer/light combat aircraft–of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) has been equipped with an active defense system that uses heat decoys and electronic jamming signals to fend off anti-aircraft missiles.
“The third Yak-130M prototype aircraft of our United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has recently successfully completed its maiden flight. Its integration will accelerate testing of the new aircraft. The first deliveries to customers are planned as early as 2028. The aircraft is equipped with the President-S130 onboard system,” the company said in a statement, as reported by the state TASS news agency.
President-S130 is an onboard aircraft self-protection airborne defense complex, a specialized adaptation of the broader President-S family of optoelectronic and electronic warfare protection systems.
It is primarily designed to protect fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft from infrared- and radar-guided missiles, particularly man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS), as well as a range of air-to-air and surface-to-air threats.
The base President-S system has been in service since around 2014 and has been tested and fitted on various Russian helicopters and aircraft. It typically includes radar, laser, or missile-approach warners, control units, jammers, and countermeasures dispensers.
The President-S130 system operates automatically in stages.
First, sensors detect an incoming missile launch/threat; second, the system generates radioelectronic jamming to disrupt enemy detection and guidance systems; and third, it dispenses decoys, flares, chaff, and other countermeasures to neutralize infrared and radar seekers.
“It automatically detects an enemy missile launch, then instantly applies electronic interference to its detection and guidance systems, and then deploys special traps to neutralize infrared and radar homing heads,” the Russian-language RIA Novosti stated.
Interestingly, the recent disclosure about equipping the Yak-130M comes months after the baseline version of the aircraft—a Yak-130 belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF)—was downed in combat. However, integrating the President-S130 was not a direct consequence of that event; it was planned in advance.
“An Israeli Air Force Adir (F-35I) jet shot down an Iranian combat aircraft (YAK-130) over Tehran skies a short time ago,” the military said in a statement at the time. “This is the world’s first shootdown of a manned fighter jet by an F-35,” it added.
The stealthy F-35 used its advanced radar and networked situational awareness to detect and engage the Yak-130 before the slower, less capable aircraft could mount an effective response.
Against that backdrop, the President-S130 could make the Yak-130M more survivable in permissive or lightly defended environments against ground-based air defenses and other threats, but it is unlikely to dramatically bolster the jet’s survivability if a cutting-edge stealth fighter, such as the F-35, is hounding it.
Russia’s Yak-130 Aircraft
Developed by Russia’s Yakovlev design bureau, the YAK-130 is an advanced trainer aircraft adapted for light combat roles and is reportedly armed with the Soviet-origin R-73 air-to-air missile. The Yak-130 also has a secondary light-attack capability, allowing it to strike enemy ground formations and serve as a force multiplier.
The aircraft can also train for close air support missions and carry several tons of ammunition, including various wing- and fuselage-mounted weapons. The Yak-130 can typically carry KAB-500 guided bombs, Kh-29 guided missiles, 80-mm, 122-mm, and 330-mm rockets, and 250- and 500-kilogram bombs.
The Yak-130’s fly-by-wire controls and computerized cockpit mimic the flight characteristics of modern advanced fighter planes. Furthermore, the aircraft’s ability to sustain steady, controllable flight at angles of attack up to 35 degrees puts it on par with the MiG-29 and Su-30.
The Yak-130 can take off and land from a variety of runways, making it a versatile platform.
Thanks to its remarkable thrust-to-weight ratio, the aircraft can withstand high g-forces and deliver remarkable climb and takeoff performance. It has a maximum combat payload of 3,000 kg, a top speed of 1,060 km/h, a range of about 1,600 km (internal fuel), and a service ceiling of 12,500 m (41,020 feet). Maximum takeoff weight is approximately 10,290 kg.
It features a three-hour endurance (with two drop tanks) and a detachable in-flight refueling probe. Some reports say it can also carry extra fuel tanks and two electronic warfare pods on the wingtips to extend its operating range.
Russia reportedly completed the first upgraded Yak-130M jet in October 2025. The Yak-130M keeps essentially the same two-seat airframe and engines but adds radar, targeting, self-protection, communications, and expanded guided-weapons capability, turning the jet from an advanced trainer/light-attack aircraft into a more capable light combat aircraft.
This variant adds a significantly updated mission system architecture while keeping the original airframe and AI-222-25 engines.
Notably, the latest disclosure comes months after reports noted that the Yak-130M advanced began flight testing with a new avionics package that included an updated self-protection complex, an electro-optical targeting system, and an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
Reports say the most significant upgrade in the Yak-130M is the BRLS-130R radar. The original Yak-130 can carry weapons, but the M version can independently find and track targets, guide precision munitions, and potentially engage drones or aircraft beyond visual range, capabilities the baseline aircraft lacks.
In addition to the BRLS-130R AESA radar, the Yak-130M adds the SOLT-130K electro-optical/laser targeting system, the KSS-130 communications link, and the President-S130, enabling more autonomous target detection, precision weapon delivery, networking, and self-protection.
President-S130 turns the Yak-130M from a light attack aircraft into one with an integrated, automated survivability layer against surface- and air-launched missiles. Its value lies in letting the aircraft operate closer to contested airspace and in the low-altitude counter-drone or counter-insurgency roles Moscow is positioning the Yak-130M for.
With the President-S130, the aircraft can conduct low-altitude strike or armed-reconnaissance missions and automatically respond to a sudden missile launch, rather than relying solely on crew vigilance and flare dispensing. Moreover, in permissive-to-contested environments, the Yak-130M’s sensors and weapons can address risks from adverse UAVs and even neutralize light ground targets.
Combined with KSS-130—the onboard communications link and radio unit developed as part of the Yak-130M avionics suite—the aircraft can receive cueing from ground stations or other aircraft, then use its own sensors to classify and engage a target, while the President-S130 protects it during approach and egress.
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