The Russian Air Force displayed preference to the Yak-130 project in the tender for a pilot training system, which will replace by the year 2000 the currently used fleet of the obsolete Czechoslovakian-made L-39 aircraft. Besides the Yakovlev design bureau, the Sukhoi, Mikoyan and Myasishchev firms participated in the tender which was held by the Russian Air Force in two phases from 1992 to 1994. The program will be partly funded by the government and partly from other sources. It will be carried out at both international and interstate levels and legalized by the Russian Federation government's decree and by a number of interstate agreements. The urgency of solving the task of technical re-equipment of the trainer aircraft fleet is dictated by the difficulty of maintaining the operation and logistic support of the L-39 aircraft along with the transition to mutual hard currency payments with Czechia under the conditions of a permanent budget deficit. The entry into service in the nearest future of a Russian pilot training system is expected to solve this task. What were the factors that helped the Yakovlev design bureau gain victory over such prominent rivals ? An explanation of these factors may be found in new conceptual and organizational-financial approaches to solving design tasks.
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