A jet factory for Ceaușescu’s Romania

Avioane Craiova was set up in 1972 at Ghercești, outside Craiova, for an unusual project: a jet combat aircraft developed jointly by Romania and Yugoslavia, two communist states keen to depend less on Moscow. The result was the IAR-93 Vultur, built in Romania alongside the Yugoslav Soko J-22 Orao. Both prototypes flew on the same day, 31 October 1974, the Romanian one at Bacău. The Romanian Air Force eventually had 87 in service, with 29 more left unfinished, and the last were withdrawn in 1998.

The Hawk and the fighter that never was

Craiova also tried to build a supersonic fighter, the IAR-95. Work stopped in 1981, restarted, and was cancelled for good in 1988 before a prototype was finished. Its lasting product was the IAR 99 Șoim (Hawk), the first jet trainer both designed and built in Romania. Design began in 1975, the prototype flew on 21 December 1985 and deliveries started in 1987, but the economic collapse of the early 1990s throttled production. The surviving aircraft were upgraded with Elbit Systems avionics from 1998, and a contract in 2020 covered ten more to IAR 99 SM standard.

Yaks, Ariane and slow privatisation

Some of the factory’s most famous work was for collectors. From 1992 it built replica Yak-3U fighters for a French customer, using a Yak-11 in the National Military Museum as the pattern; the first flew in 1994. One, re-engined and named Steadfast, set a world speed record for its weight class at 670 km/h in 2011. Avioane Craiova has also made parts for the Ariane 5 rocket. Privatisation attempts in 2008 drew bids from Alenia, Aero Vodochody and INAV but collapsed, and the state still holds about 81 per cent.

Factories

• Ghercești works · Ghercești, Dolj County

Records and firsts

• Yak-3U replica Steadfast: world speed record for aircraft under 3,000 kg, 670 km/h, Wendover, Utah, 2011