Avioane Craiova S.A. ("Craiova Airplanes" in English) is an
aeronautical company based in
Ghercești, near
Craiova,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. It has been involved in the manufacture of various military aircraft, including the
IAR-93 Vultur
The Avioane Craiova IAR-93 Vultur (''Eagle'') is a twinjet, subsonic, close support, ground attack and tactical reconnaissance aircraft with secondary capability as low level interceptor. Built as single-seat main attack version or combat capa ...
ground-attack fighter, the
IAR-99
The IAR 99 Șoim (''Hawk'') is an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft capable of performing close air support and reconnaissance missions. The IAR 99 replaced the Aero L-29 Delfin and Aero L-39 Albatros as the jet trainer of the Romania ...
advanced jet trainer/light attack aircraft, and the cancelled
IAR-95 Spey fighter.
Avioane Craiova was established in 1972 for the purpose of developing, manufacturing and providing support for several military aircraft. Its services have been principally used by the
Romanian Air Force
The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...
, although export sales have also been pursued by the company. Since the start of the 2000s, the Romanian government has made persistent efforts to privatise Avioane Craiova.
History
Immediately following its establishment in 1972, Avioane Craiova became involved in a multinational aircraft programme in which Romania co-operated with the neighbouring nation of
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
to jointly develop and produced a military twin-engined ground attack and tactical reconnaissance aircraft, the
IAR-93 Vultur
The Avioane Craiova IAR-93 Vultur (''Eagle'') is a twinjet, subsonic, close support, ground attack and tactical reconnaissance aircraft with secondary capability as low level interceptor. Built as single-seat main attack version or combat capa ...
.
[Fredriksen 2001, p. 301.] In addition to Avioane Craiova, two other Romanian companies,
Aerostar Bacău and
IAR Brașov IAR may refer to:
* IAR Systems, an embedded system technology company
*The Institute of Asian Research, an institute under the Faculty of Arts in the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
*" Ignore all rules", a policy on Wikipedia ...
, along with the Yugoslavian aircraft manufacturer
SOKO
Soko ( sh-Cyrl, Соко) was a Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of many military aircraft for the Yugoslav Air Force.
SOKO was created in 1950 by the rel ...
, worked together on the IAR-93 programme. First flown in 1985, around 200 aircraft were constructed and entered in service with the
Romanian Air Force
The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...
prior to the end of production in 1992. During the 1990s, Avioane Craiova independently proposed various upgrades and modifications to the IAR-93 fleet.
Amid the late 1970s, Avioane Craiova commenced work on an envisioned indigenous
supersonic fighter jet, commonly referred to as the
IAR-95, which was intended to be adopted by the Romanian Air Force. However, work on the project was terminated in 1981, but revived shortly thereafter. During 1988, the IAR-95 programme was cancelled for a second and final time, allegedly due to a lack of available funds. Work had been halted prior to the completion of a single
prototype, a full-scale mockup had reportedly been partially constructed.
During the 1980s, another aircraft programme was launched by the company. This effort resulted in the development of an advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft, the
IAR-99
The IAR 99 Șoim (''Hawk'') is an advanced trainer and light attack aircraft capable of performing close air support and reconnaissance missions. The IAR 99 replaced the Aero L-29 Delfin and Aero L-39 Albatros as the jet trainer of the Romania ...
.
Despite deliveries commencing in 1987, the programme was hampered by the decline in Romanian's economic conditions during the early 1990s. In September 1998, the Romanian government authorised the upgrade of the existing 24 IAR-99s of the Romanian Air Force with a new avionics suite that was developed in collaboration with the
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i aerospace company
Elbit Systems. By 2009, Avioane Craiova was claiming that the IAR-99 remained in active production, specifically as the modernised ''IAR-99 Șoim'' (''Hawk'') variant. By 2017, only 19 examples were in use with the Romanian Air Force, the type's sole operator to date. Avioane Craiova has continued to pursue upgrades and partnerships, as well as the promotion of IAR-99 in upgraded forms as late as September 2017.
During the 2000s, the Romanian government has made efforts to privatise many of its state-owned assets, including Avioane Craiova. In May 2008, aerospace periodical
Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...
reported that a total of three bidders had issued offers to acquire up to 81 percent of the company, these being the Italian aerospace manufacturer
Alenia Aeronautica
Alenia Aeronautica was an Italian aerospace company. Its subsidiaries included Alenia Aermacchi and Alenia Aeronavali.
Alenia Aeronautica was also the part-owner of ATR, a joint venture with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS ...
, the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
-based aircraft company
Aero Vodochody, and local agency
INAV Bucharest. At one stage, Aero Vodochody appeared to by the frontrunner, the company having promoted its plans to develop Avioane Craiova's aerostructures capabilities. However, by October 2008, none of the bidders were willing to agree to the contractual terms presented and had therefore pulled out of the privatisation process, forcing it to be restarted.
Warbird projects
Replicas of the
Yak-3U were produced at Avioane Craiova. The project started in 1992, when 10 airplanes were ordered by a French company. The
Yak-11
The Yakovlev Yak-11 (russian: Яковлев Як-11; NATO reporting name: "Moose") is a trainer aircraft used by the Soviet Air Force and other Soviet-influenced air forces from 1947 until 1962.
Design and development
The Yakovlev design bureau ...
no. 47, located at the
National Military Museum, which was converted in the 1950s into a single-seat
aerobatic plane was used as a model. The first Yak-3U replica flew in 1994, two years after the contract was signed.
Nine replicas were produced with the
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 engines. In 2005, a variant was made with a more powerful
R-2000 engine.
This airplane was bought by
Will Whiteside who named it "Steadfast" and kitted it out to compete in the
Reno Air Races
The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. ...
.
In 2011, he set the under- World Speed Record at
Wendover
Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
in the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, travelling at a speed of .
The record has since been broken by
Steven Hinton, Jr. with
Voodoo in 2017.
In 2013 it was moved to Australia where it was registered as VH-YOV on 24 December 2013.
It was purchased by the
Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in September 2019.
Products
Projects
*
IAR-95 Spey
*
IAR-109 Swift
See also
*
Aviation in Romania
Romania has a rich tradition in aviation. At the beginning of the 20th century, pioneers such as Henri Coandă, Aurel Vlaicu, Traian Vuia and George Valentin Bibescu made important contributions to early aviation history, building revolutionary a ...
*
IAR
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{Romanian aerospace industry
Aircraft manufacturers of Romania
Manufacturing companies established in 1972
Romanian brands
1972 establishments in Romania
Companies based in Craiova