IAR-93 Vultur

On May 20, 1971, Romania and Yugoslavia signed the governmental agreements for the YuRom R&D programme. The program managers were Dipl. Dr. Engineer Teodor Zamfirescu for the Romanian party and Colonel Vidoje Knežević for the Yugoslav party. The requirements called for a light subsonic aircraft for ground attack and tactical reconnaissance missions and with low level air combat as a secondary capability. It was to be built on a simple structure, using locally produced equipment and avionics (but compatible with Western components), tough (able to operate on grass or damaged runways), easy to maintain, and reliable. The aircraft was of conventional twin-engine, high mounted wing monoplane configuration with all flying surfaces swept. The Rolls-Royce Viper was chosen as the powerplant, as SOKO had experience with licence-building this engine. It was originally intended that an afterburner would be developed for the Viper engines, but there were prolonged difficulties with this project, meaning that none of the pre-production aircraft featured it, and neither did early production examples. During the 1980s, both countries developed slightly different versions to take advantage of the afterburning engines that had since become available. ==Flight testing==

The Romanian single-seat prototype White 001 made its first flight, which lasted 21 minutes, on October 31, 1974, at Bacău (simultaneously with the Yugoslav prototype at Batajnica Air Base). The aircraft was flown by Colonel Gheorghe Stănică. On September 20, 1979, the plane was lost when, during a test flight, both engines stopped, and the pilot ejected. This prompted modifications to the combustion chamber (including all aircraft already delivered). On July 18, 1975 the aircraft was presented to Nicolae Ceauşescu on the Bacău airfield. The DC (two-seat) prototype #003 first flew on January 23, 1977, and was lost on November 24, 1977, due to tail flutter. The left elevator broke off while in level flight at altitude and . The Martin-Baker Mk RU10J zero-zero ejection seats functioned well and the two test pilots ejected safely. After this event the aft fuselage structure was reinforced. Prototype #004 crashed at Craiova Air Base on February 20, 1979, during an aerobatics demonstration. The pilot, Capt. Eng. Dobre Stan, did not manage to eject. On August 23, 1979, three IAR-93 (#001, #002 and #005) were first presented to the public in flight during the military parade celebrating the national day of Romania at that time. ==Variants==

• IAR-93A: initial production version with non-afterburning Viper Mk 632-41 turbojets15 pre-production aircraft delivered in 1979; entered service in 198126 built (#109-119 pre-production, #150-164 series) as single-seaters and 9 DC (two-seat) trainers (#005-008 pre-production, #180-184 series) • IAR-93MB: MB = Motor de Baza (basic engine). This version had the fuselage of the IAR-93B but used the non-afterburning engine of the IAR-93Adelivered starting with 198215 single-seaters built (#201-215) • IAR-93B: refined version with afterburning Viper Mk 633-47 engines, increased internal fuel capacity, upgraded hardpoints and revised wing, including leading edge extensions. Also, the ventral fins, inboard wing fences and forward fuselage strakes were removedfirst flew in 1985; entered service in 198727 built as single-seater (#200, #216-241) and 7 DC (#600-606) ==Operators==

Former ; • Romanian Air Force – 116 total of which 87 were in service (including prototypes), and other other 29 were left unfinished. Additional 125 were ordered in 1989. - 67th Fighter-Bomber Regiment at Craiova. - 49th Fighter-Bomber Regiment at Ianca. Proposed • Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force – 48 total planned. In 1988, Iran evaluated the purchase of the IAR-93B Vultur during the final phase of the Iran–Iraq War, after facing aircraft losses and difficulties maintaining its U.S. supplied fleet, which included the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the Northrop F-5, due to Western arms embargos. Negotiations took place for the possible acquisition of 48 IAR-93B aircraft, consisting of 24 aircraft taken from Romanian Air Force stocks and 24 newly manufactured examples. Iranian pilots reportedly visited Romania to test-fly the aircraft at Craiova, where they conducted evaluation flights and weapons trials using unguided bombs. Only minor modifications were planned for export aircraft, mainly involving changes to radio equipment and identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) systems. The project did not progress to delivery following the August 1988 ceasefire that ended the Iran–Iraq War. Later discussions on broader economic cooperation between the two countries took place during the December 1989 visit of Romanian president Nicolae Ceaușescu to Tehran, but the aircraft acquisition was never actually implemented. • Mauritania Islamic Air Force – 6 total planned. A proposed export of the IAR-93 Vultur to Mauritania in the early 1990s. According to a few accounts, Romania explored a contract for six modified IAR-93 aircraft intended for maritime patrol and fisheries surveillance, along with two IAR-99 Șoim trainer aircraft and training for Mauritanian personnel. The aircraft were reportedly to be equipped with surveillance equipment for monitoring illegal fishing in Mauritanian territorial waters. The proposed agreement, valued at approximately US$40 million, allegedly involved a mixed payment structure combining cash with fishing rights granted to Romanian ocean-fishing companies operating off the Mauritanian coast. The deal, reportedly negotiated through the Romanian state arms export agency Romtehnica, was not concluded and the aircraft were never delivered. ==Lost aircraft==

Data from Romanian press and partially from ejection-history.org.uk • #002, November 24, 1977 The left elevator broke off due to flutter. Both pilots, Col. Gheorghe D. Stanica and Col. Petru Ailiesei, ejected safely. • #003, February 20, 1979 at Craiova Air Base. Capt. Eng. Dobre Stan did not manage to eject. • #001, September 20, 1979 Both engines stopped. Col. Ilie P. Botea ejected safely. • #113, March 8, 1983 Crashed on landing due to pilot error. Maj. Ion G. Tanase ejected safely. • #602, August 25, 1992 Both pilots, Maj. Dan C. Cosaceanu and Cpt. Traian G. Neagoe, ejected safely. • #200, November 26, 1996 at Recea-Slatina. Crashed during a test flight. Cpt. Cmdr. Matei "Bebe" Constantin ejected safely. • #210, July 9, 1997 at Craiova Air Base. Exploded on the runway during preparations for Romanian-made cluster munitions testing. 16 ground personnel died. The pilot, Cmdr. Ion Marculescu, had not yet approached the plane and was unharmed. • #219, April 9, 1998 at Ghercesti, near Craiova. The forward landing gear could not be deployed after a test flight. Cmdr. Ion Marculescu ejected safely after exhausting the fuel and the airplane crashed a few km further. This was the last flight for the type. ==Retirement==

Following the outbreak of the war in Yugoslavia and the UN embargo, the IAR-93 program ended in Romania in 1992, with several airframes in different stages of construction. Around 75 aircraft were still in service, a few of them being used for testing and research (#200 – first B model with afterburners, #600 (DC) – the only one fitted with canards). The last IAR-93s were withdrawn and mothballed from the Romanian Air Force in 1998. Surviving airframes were stored at Deveselu (IAR-93A #116), Timișoara (IAR-93MB #214), and Craiova (about 60 aircraft). The J-22 Orao are still in service with the air force of Serbia. The last Yugoslav aircraft was delivered in February 1992, and the plant in Mostar was destroyed shortly after. ==Aircraft on display==

• #002 (prototype DC) Aviation Museum, Bucharest (44°28'39.7"N 26°06'41.8"E) • #109 (A) Henri Coandă School courtyard, Perișor, Dolj • #112 (A) Aviation Museum, Bucharest (44°28'39.8"N 26°06'42.2"E) • #114 (A) Aviation Museum, Bucharest (44°28'38.9"N 26°06'40.9"E) • #153 (A) at the National Military Museum, Bucharest (44°26'25.3"N 26°04'36.4"E) • #157 (A) donated by the Romanian Air Force to the Museum of Aviation in Košice, Slovakia on October 23, 2006 • #159 (A) in Bucharest, at the gate of I.N.C.A.S./Comoti Institut (the birthplace of IAR 93 and IAR 99) (44°26'03.5"N 26°00'21.3"E) • #182 (A) Aviation Museum, Bucharest (44°28'38.5"N 26°06'39.7"E) • #201 (MB) in Timișoara, on the road to Resita (45°43'8.27"N 21°11'58.77"E) • #205 (MB), #207, #208 (August 2022) in Orăștie, at Arsenal Park (45°50'02.7"N 23°09'52.7"E) • #206 (MB) in Pivka Military History Park, Pivka, Slovenia • #207 (MB) in Timișoara (45°44'4.65"N 21°15'49.65"E) • #215 (MB) Colonești, Olt (44°38'01.3"N 24°40'41.2"E) • #216 (MB) Bălăbănești, Galați (46°05'22.1"N 27°43'04.6"E) • #223 (B) Gagu, Dascălu, (44°36'43.4"N 26°15'36.1"E) • #229 (B) Vădeni, Brăila (45°21'46.572" N 27°56'22.716" E) • #232 (B) in the Military Technical Academy's courtyard, Bucharest • #600 (DC) in the Air Force Academy's courtyard, Brașov • #613 (MB) in front of the Craiova International Airport (44°18'46.2"N 23°53'5.05"E) • #220 in front of Facultatea de mecanica "Gheorghe Asachi", Iasi • #181 in Ianca DN2B 247 • #222 in Aerodrom Șiria, Arad (46° 15' 50.11497" N 21° 36' 12.01636" E) ==Specifications (IAR-93B)==