First Ural UTS-800 trainer aircraft delivered to Russian Ministry of Defence for testing
December 31, 2024
A company spokesperson said that: “These two serial UTS-800 aircraft will be used for flight testing. In both Soviet and modern times, the Ministry of Defense has lacked aircraft of this class in its educational institutions. Historically, cadets trained on jet-powered L-29 and L-39 models. Incorporating the UTS-800 into pilot training programs will substantially reduce training costs while maintaining high efficiency.”
The UTS-800 is a ‘Russified’ derivative of the DART (Diamond Aircraft Reconnaissance Trainer), a turboprop trainer developed by Austrian aviation company Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH.
The original Diamond DART-450 first flew on 17 May 2016, powered by a 495-hp Ivchenko-Progress Motor Sich AI-450S turboprop, driving a five-bladed MT Propeller. The subsequent Diamond DART-550 was powered by a 550-hp General Electric GE H75-100 turboprop, and flew on 24 May 2018. The Diamond DART-750 flew on 12 June 2023, powered by a 750-hp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop.
Diamond Aircraft has been under full control of China’s Wanfeng Aviation Industry Co. Ltd, since 2017, and the CETC TA-20 (a Chinese-manufactured variant of the DART-450 using Chinese avionics, first flew on 6 November 2018, a possible candidate basic military trainer aircraft for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
Under Chinese control, the DART formed the basis of the Ural UTS-800, which made its maiden flight in the hands of chief pilot Alexey Yazynin in October 2023 at Aramil airport in the Sverdlovsk region. The UTS-800 was originally powered by a Western General Electric H80 turboprop engine, but the aircraft was subsequently re-engined with an 806 hp Russian Klimov VK-800SM turboprop.
