Industria Aeronautică Română
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Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) (now IAR S.A. Brașov), or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n
aerospace manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of Aircraft design process, designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a hi ...
. It is based in
Ghimbav Ghimbav (; ) is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, central Romania. Geography The town is situated in the southern part of the Transylvanian Plateau, at an altitude of , on the banks of the river Ghimbășel. It is located in the Burzenland ...
, near
Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
, Romania. IAR was founded in 1925 with the aid of the Romanian government, which sought to reduce reliance on foreign companies to supply the Royal Romanian Air Force with aircraft and associated equipment. In addition to its designs, the company built numerous foreign-designed aircraft under license as well. IAR produced a low-wing all-metal
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
, the IAR 80, during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
; this combat aircraft was extensively used by the nation during the conflict. During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
era, the company branched out into
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s, securing licensing agreements with France for their designs in the field, leading to the IAR 316 and IAR 330. In 2000, IAR partnered with the multinational helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter Group to create the ''Eurocopter Romania''
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
company. Presently, the company employs around 1,200 specialists including more than 170 engineers; it carries out upgrades, revisions, and overhauls on helicopters and light aircraft.


History


Origins and early years

To ensure that the Royal Romanian Air Force (the ''Aeronautica Regală Română'', or ''ARR'') would be supplied with aircraft without reliance on foreign producers, the Romanian government subsidized the creation of three major aircraft manufacturers in the interbellum period. The first was Societatea pentru Exploatări Tehnice (SET) which was founded in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
in 1923. Next came IAR, which was formed in Brașov since 1925. Finally there was Întreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice Românești (ICAR), which was created in Bucharest in 1932, and operated a factory in Brașov known as ''ICA-Brașov'' (''Întreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice - Brașov''). One of the engineers designing IAR aircraft in the early 1930s was Elie Carafoli. During 1930, IAR's first original aircraft, the IAR CV 11, performed its
maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. In the early days of aviation it could be dange ...
; it functioned as an experimental design only. One of its earliest aircraft to reach quantity production was the
IAR 14 The IAR 14 is a Romanian low-wing monoplane fighter-trainer aircraft designed before World War II. Design and development After rejection of IAR 12, Romanian officials did not want to discourage eventual national aircraft production. Therefore, ...
, a trainer aircraft derived from the IAR 12 prototype. The IAR 27 was a more advanced trainer that was introduced in larger quantities during the late 1930s. In addition to pursuing its own designs, IAR also pursued work via the
licensed production Licensed production is the production under license of technology developed elsewhere. The licensee provides the licensor of a specific product with legal production rights, technical information, process technology, and any other proprietary compo ...
of foreign-developed aircraft.
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
's innovative PZL P.11 fighter captured the attention of Romanian officials, leading to a batch of 95 aircraft, referred to as the ''P.11f'', being built by IAR starting in 1936.Morgała 1997, p. 63. The Romanian Air Force was greatly appreciative of the type, which heavily contributed to the decision to also licensed produce its upgraded derivative, the PZL P.24, which had been designed exclusively for the export market. Both models would see combat service during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. IAR worked throughout the conflict to produce large numbers of combat aircraft to equip the Romanian military. Perhaps one of the most significant aircraft to be produced by the company was built during these years in the form of the IAR 80, a low-wing
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
all-metal
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
fighter and
ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
. When it first flew in 1939, the IAR 80 was claimed to be comparable to contemporary designs being deployed by the most advanced military powers, including the British
Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...
and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109E. An improved model, the IAR 81 fighter aircraft, was designed and produced mid-way through the war as well. The type remained in frontline use until May 1945, when the conflict was brought to an end.


Cold War era

After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, starting from 1946, the production of IAR was oriented towards the manufacture of tractors. The first tractor produced being the IAR 22. Between 1945 and 1947, under the coordination of Radu Manicatide and Radu Mărdărescu, IAR developed a microcar, named M.R., and an automobile. However, the company did not persist with road vehicle development in the long term. From 1947, IAR became the ''Intreprinderea Metalurgica de Stat'' (State Ironworks) and from 1948, the company was renamed to (UTB). The current IAR was re-established in 1968 at
Ghimbav Ghimbav (; ) is a town in Brașov County, Transylvania, central Romania. Geography The town is situated in the southern part of the Transylvanian Plateau, at an altitude of , on the banks of the river Ghimbășel. It is located in the Burzenland ...
, under the name ''Intreprinderea de Construcţii Aeronautice'' (ICA). The ICA developed from the former ''Intreprinderea de Industrie Locală'' (IIL) glider manufacturer. During this time, the company began to produce
helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...
,
motor gliders An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into motion (physics), mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroe ...
and airplanes, besides gliders. Romania arranged multiple licensing agreements with France, resulting in IAR producing
Aérospatiale Aérospatiale () was a major French state-owned aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and arms industry, defence corporation. It was founded in 1970 as () through the merger of three established state-owned companies: Sud Aviation, Nord Aviation ...
's SA 316B Alouette III under the local designation of IAR 316. The company also manufactured a localised version of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma, designated IAR 330.Marnix Sap, Carlo Brummer: ''Fortele Aeriene Romane'' in: Lotnictwo Nr. 4/2010, pp. 40–41 These rotorcraft were not only manufactured for domestic consumption, such as the Romanian Air Force, but also for the global market; roughly one-third of all IAR 330s were reportedly sold to export customers. During the late 1980s, a
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
-Romanian partnership led to the development of the Kamov Ka-126 helicopter; only a handful were built before production was terminated shortly following the
Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...
and the collapse of the Communist government. Since 1968, IAR has produced more than 360 helicopters, along with 830 gliders and including motor gliders, as well as 136
light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...
.


Twenty-first century

During the late 1990s, American aerospace company Bell Helicopters entered negotiations on the topic of acquiring a majority stake in IAR. According to aerospace periodical
Flight International ''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', 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", i ...
, Bell was at one stage set to purchase a 70 percent shareholding in the firm; this arrangement was closely tied to a planned procurement of the AH-1RO Dracula
attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive (military), offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their ...
by Romania, which would have been manufactured locally by IAR. However, by 1998, the purchase was put on hold while efforts were made to raise funds for the AH-1RO purchase. Following a period of negotiations, in November 1999, Bell announced that it had abandoned its intentions to take over IAR and to locally produce the AH-1RO. During 2000, it was announced that the multinational helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter Group was holding discussions over its own bid for IAR. Later that same year, IAR established ''Eurocopter Romania'' in conjunction with Eurocopter, the former held a 49% stake in the newly created
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
. In November 2015,
Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter S.A., trading as Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries, holding 48% of the wo ...
announced plans to invest €52 million in a Romanian facility to manufacture the 8.6t H215M Super Puma; this arrangement was reportedly reliant upon an initial order for 16 being placed by the Romanian government to extend the type's production."Romania to host production of new, robust, and cost-effective H215 heavy helicopter."
''Airbus Helicopters'', 17 November 2015.


Products


See also

* Aviation in Romania *
IAR 111 The IAR-111 Excelsior was a supersonic mothership project, designed by ARCA Space Corporation, intended to transport a rocket payload up to and for developing space tourism related technologies. The aircraft was supposed to be constructed almost ...


References


Footnotes


References


Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Industria Aeronautica Romana Glider manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1925 Aerospace companies of Romania Aircraft manufacturers of Romania Helicopter manufacturers of Romania Romanian brands Companies based in Brașov 1925 establishments in Romania Defence companies of Romania