Soko (company)

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Soko is a manufacturer of military aircraft based in Mostar , Bosnia and Herzegovina .

history

The company was founded in 1950 as Preduzeće SOKO and later renamed SOKO Vazduhoplovna Industrija, Ro Vazduhoplovstvo . He was initially the fighter aircraft manufacturer of the Yugoslav Air Force on a license basis in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia . In 1960 it was decided to dissolve the then leading fighter aircraft company, Ikarus in Novi Sad , and to relocate production to SOKO in Mostar, making SOKO the leading fighter aircraft manufacturer in the former Yugoslavia. In 1961 the first Yugoslav model SOKO "Galeb" appeared. Later, the company also began producing measuring instruments for aircraft and equipment for airports and concluded a license agreement for the production of Aérospatiale SA 341 and 342 under the name "Gazela". The plant also produced components for various Airbus models.

The main factory, which still exists today, is located in Mostar on a factory site of 450,000 m² with formerly 5000 employees, but there were also plants in Čitluk , Grude , Ljubuški and Nevesinje , and the company thus had a total of around 8,000 employees. The company used Mostar Airport to test the planes.

During the Bosnian War , the company premises were occupied and many of the machines and furnishings were stolen or damaged. As a result of the collapsed economy, the number of employees fell to 450 and is therefore only 5% workload compared to the time before the war. Various attempts to build on the success before the collapse of Yugoslavia have so far not been very successful. Omnibuses and small planes, among other things, were produced on an experimental basis. The company management also attributes this to the influence of the so-called international community in the reconstruction of Bosnia. The IG demanded that the Bosniaks participate in the leadership of Soko on a quota basis, but the Croatians refused.

Company Name

Soko ( Соко ) means falcon in Serbo-Croatian .

Planes and helicopters

Light attack and training aircraft Soko G-4 Super Galeb with armament options

military

Civil

Web links

Commons : Soko  - collection of images, videos and audio files