The Commanders-in-Chief of Argentinian, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Uruguayan air forces have taken interest in new Russian Yak-130 operational trainer and expressed readiness to start negotiations on deliveries of these vehicles, RIA Novosti reports. It has been declared by Vladimir Sautov, vice-president on marketing and external communication of Irkut Corporation.

"We held a meeting with the participation of Commanders-in-Chief of Argentinian, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Uruguayan air forces. The readiness to start negotiations on deliveries of these jets has been expressed. It is important for our potential customers that this jet is real, it is flying and it is being acquired by the Russian air forces", - Sautov said during FIDAE-2012 air show.

"The Commanders-in-Chief are especially interested in our manufacturing and technological capabilities, because the national military-technical commissions should present their judgment prior to decision-making. In addition, every country wants to perform some flights on this jet", - the corporation’s representative noted.

Sautov said that the corporation is taking part in the work of Latin America’s largest aviation forum for the third time. "We started in 2008. Irkut Corporation believes that this market is very promising in the context of military aircraft deliveries", - the company’s vice-president said.

According to him, the spectrum of potential customers for the operational trainer in this region has been defined. "Due to political and economic reasons in some countries Yak-130 may be used as a light attack aircraft and in other countries – as a trainer", - Sautov said.

Yak-130 operational trainer, designed by Yakovlev design bureau, has been chosen as the basic trainer of Russian air forces for basic and advanced training of pilots. The state testing of Yak-130 equipped with weapons has been completed in December 2009. The jets are being put into operation by Russian air forces and training centers since February 2010.

Russian Ministry of Defense and Irkut Corporation have signed the contract on delivery of 55 Yak-130s by 2015 in December 2011. The State program in the area of arms for 2011-2020 assumes acquisition of 65 vehicles.

Irkut Corporation has started the export deliveries of Yak-130 jets in 2011. Negotiations with several countries are currently underway. The market capacity for Yak-130 aircraft is assessed at 250 jets.