The air force’s workshop

Aerostar began in 1953 as a repair works in Bacău, in north-eastern Romania, answering to the armed forces ministry. Its name changed several times, from U.R.A. to I.R.Av. and I.Av., before it settled on Aerostar. For decades it has looked after almost every type the Romanian military flies. Its biggest production job was a Soviet design: Aerostar built more than 1,800 Yak-52 trainers in three versions, the Iak-52, Iak-52W and Iak-52TW, many of which now fly with private owners in the West.

Yaks, LanceRs and Focke-Wulfs

After the Cold War Aerostar teamed with Israel’s Elbit Systems to modernise the air force’s MiG-21s. The result was the MiG-21 LanceR, which kept Romania’s fighter arm going for a generation; a MiG-29 Sniper upgrade stopped at the demonstrator stage. Upgraded MiG-21s also went to Mozambique. The oddest project began in 1996 with Flug Werk of Germany: brand-new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 replicas, drawn from 3.5 tonnes of wreckage and 8,000 drawings. The first flew in 2004 and 21 were sold as kits.

Boeings, F-16s and a new trainer

In 2000 the state’s 69.99 per cent stake passed to a consortium of managers, employees and IAROM, with the government keeping a golden share. Aerostar now earns much of its living from airliner maintenance, with more than 50 Boeing 737 C-checks a year by 2015, plus aerostructures and drones. Since 2021 it has maintained Romania’s F-16s, in 2024 it opened Europe’s first Black Hawk and HIMARS maintenance centres with Lockheed Martin, and in 2025 it announced the IAR 835 four-seat trainer with INCAS.

Factories

• Bacău works · Bacău — Headquarters; new 737 hangar completed 2012
• Iași maintenance centre · Iași Airport — Opened September 2020