It has a low-set, straight wing, engines mounted on either side of the fuselage and a mid-mounted tail. The first aircraft had avionics that had been jointly developed by Sextant Avionique and GosNIIAS that was derived from prior French software. The avionics system comprised multi-function liquid crystal displays, a head-up display and other navigation systems, some of which used commercial technology to shorten development time. The avionics systems, when working with the MiG-AT's fly-by-wire flight-control system, allowed the aircraft to adopt the characteristics of third- and fourth-generation jet fighters. The second prototype differed from the first in having Russian avionics and hardpoints for the carriage of armament. The aircraft is powered by two Snecma-Turbomeca Larzac 04R20 turbofan engines, rated at , that had been developed in the 1970s for the Alpha Jet. Under a 1995 agreement between French and Russian authorities, the Russian side reserved the right to locally produce and develop a higher thrust derivative of the engine. In November 1996, a contract was signed for the production of ten Larzac engines for the initial pre-production aircraft, which did not come into fruition. At the same time, the was working on a Russian alternative to the Larzac, named the , rated at at take-off. Both aircraft prototypes later served as a separate test beds for the RD-1700 and NPO Saturn AL-55I engine. As the tender for a military trainer progressed, operational experience in the air force and pressure from foreign participating companies shifted the original requirements for a purely trainer aircraft to one that encompassed a light combat capability. In mid-March 2002, Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov stated that the Yak-130 had been chosen over the MiG-AT as the air force's new trainers, only for the media to subsequently report that both aircraft had been chosen. The Yak-130, however, was said to be superior as it could serve the dual role of a trainer and combat jet, and in the end, on 10 April 2002, it was announced that the Yak-130 had indeed been selected over the MiG-AT. Mikoyan protested the decision, in particular the expanded requirements for a lightweight combat trainer, and the weapons load requirement that was apparently too great for such physically-inadequate designs. By then, the two prototypes had amassed 750 flights. An aspect of the Mikoyan's original 1993 agreement with the French companies was that the latter would assist in the marketing of the MiG-AT outside the