The Yak-52B2 upgrade includes electronic warfare systems and multifunctional displays that will allow it to combat reconnaissance and attack drones.
After Ukraine began using its Soviet-era Yak-52 training aircraft to shoot down Russian drones, Russia also has announced repurposing the same planes in its inventory with specific upgrades. Russian aerospace executives stated that the modification and upgrade of the plane to the Yak-52B2 standard for a dedicated “UAV countermeasure” role is a priority.
RIA Novosti quoted the head of this project at the Aviasroitel Design Bureau. Dmitry Motin: “Today, one of the priority projects for our bureau is the modernization of the Yak-52 training aircraft into the Yak-52B2 ‘UAV countermeasure aircraft’. At present, we are expecting to receive an airworthiness certificate from the Federal Air Transport Agency.”
The announcement came on the same day Ukraine conducted “one of its largest” ever drone strikes into Moscow, with the RuMoD (Russia Ministry of Defense) claiming it shot down 11 UAVs. Russia has usually used a combination of close/short-range, point-defense AD (Air Defense) systems like Pantsir, EW (Electronic Warfare) and jammers to bring down the drones.
As The Aviationist had reported, Russia had been struggling to match Ukraine’s scale and speed of replenishing its drone stocks with non-kinetic, soft-kill systems for cheap drones across the sector and for homeland defense. However, it is Ukraine’s slow and bulky drones like the Ukrjet UJ-22 that scored notable successes in penetrating Russia’s layered and integrated air defense. The Yak-52B2 program comes amid this backdrop.
Drone killer Yak-52
The modernization will involve installing new instrumentation on the aircraft, including a multifunctional display in the rear cockpit, navigation systems and a new “electronic warfare systems for suppressing communication channels.” This upgrade will allow the Yak-52 to “combat attack and reconnaissance drones” and also train pilots, said Russian media.
These upgrades are consistent with the role of an anti-UAV propeller plane, networked with other ground radars to locate, assign targets or simply jam the drones itself. The report does not mention kinetic weapons like guns embedded inside the wings’ leading edges, reminiscent of World War 2 and early-Cold War aircraft.
Avion ukrainien Yak-52 dans l’objectif d’un drone de reconnaissance russe
🔹Une autre invention comme outil bon marché pour abattre les drones russes.#GuerreEnUkraine pic.twitter.com/5liWiUmqno
— Олів’є Лекур (@olivyelekur) June 29, 2024
Whether it would have underwing pods carrying guns for the purpose is also not known. In Ukraine’s case, when its Yak-52 shot down the Orlan-10 drone on Apr. 27, 2024, and other drones in later occasions, The Aviationist had concluded that the second crew member shot down the drone.
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Whether Russia choses to undertake the arduous airframe redesign and install guns or rely on the rear crew member to do the shooting remains to be seen. Nevertheless, such a plane cannot undertake the counter UAV role without kinetic weapons capability. It is currently not known how many Yak-52 Russia plans to convert for the purpose.
Ukrainian drones
Kyiv has demonstrated how Ukrjet’s UJ-22 kamikaze UAV can be asymmetrically effective against sophisticated AD systems. The single-engine drone has a nose-mounted propeller and a monoplane design, with a 3.7 meters length and a 4.2 meter wingspan. It can carry a 20 kg bomb load under its fuselage at a distance of 800 km.
While it is not known whether it has been used in the latest attack, it has been used in earlier attacks, like the one on Apr. 24, 2023, when an explosive-laden example was found near Moscow. Such drones can fly lower than cruise missiles and closer to the terrain.
A Yak-52B2 can be tasked with engaging such threats, while also providing optical and electronic targeting from the air of other approaching drones to ground-based AD, unburdening those systems.
Le GUR🇺🇦 a attaqué l’usine d’assemblage “Shakhediv” au Tatarstan, à 1000 km de l’Ukraine, – sources RBC.
RosZMI écrit que le drone UJ-22 Airborne – un système de frappe ukrainien de “Ukrjet” – est arrivé avec à bord au moins 20 kg d’explosifs, l’envergure est de 4,6 mètres, la… pic.twitter.com/Ys0zYP8fZi
— Олів’є Лекур (@olivyelekur) April 2, 2024
Yak-52
The Yakovlev Yak-52 is a Soviet-era aircraft that was widely used for military pilot training. Designed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau and flying for the first time in 1976, it is a two-seat, single-engine, all-metal monoplane with a low-wing configuration.
The Yak-52’s distinctive feature is its strong airframe, making it popular among aerobatic shows. It flies on a single Vedeneyev M-14P radial engine that generates adequate power for aerobatic maneuvers and training flights. The aircraft has a tandem seating arrangement, with the student pilot sitting in the front and the instructor pilot in the rear, allowing for effective communication between the two.
In addition to its training role, the Yak-52 has also been used for light ground attack missions. Its slow stall speed makes it perfect for SMI (Slow Movers Intercept) roles like the Apr. 27 shootdown of the Orlan-10.
