Soko J-22 Orao

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Soko J-22 Orao / IAR-93
J-22 in the Aviation Museum in Belgrade
Type: Fighter bomber
Design country:

Yugoslavia Socialist Federal RepublicYugoslavia Yugoslavia Romania
Romania 1948Romania 

Manufacturer:

Soko / IAR

First flight:

October 31, 1974

Commissioning:

1981

Production time:

1981-1992

Number of pieces:

210 J-22
200 IAR-93

The Soko J-22 Orao (Serbian соко / soko dt. "Falke" - орао / orao dt. "Adler") or IAR-93 is a twin- engine fighter aircraft developed jointly by Romania and the former Yugoslavia of the companies Soko and IAR .

history

Both Yugoslavia and Romania endeavored to further expand their own aviation industry at the end of the 1960s for reasons of neutrality, independence from Western and Eastern technology and for economic and military reasons. In 1969, contacts were established between the Aviation Research and Development Institute in Bucharest and the Yugoslav Aviation Technology Institute . After a framework for the type and the requirements for the aircraft had been determined, a contract was signed on May 20, 1971 to form the Ju-Rom research and development consortium, in which both countries had a 50 percent share. Dr. Teodor Zanfirescu from Romania and Colonel Vidoje Knežević from Yugoslavia. The aircraft should be a lighter, more reliable and simple twin-to-maintain subsonic - fighter-bomber to be of simple construction. In addition, educational and trainer versions were planned. The aircraft should be equipped with domestic avionics and also be able to operate from unpaved runways. Detailed construction began in 1972, with each country being responsible for specific parts. So Yugoslavia developed the wings, the rear part of the fuselage and the tail unit , Romania the front fuselage, the control surfaces and the drop tanks. As engines two came Rolls-Royce - Viper used, which were manufactured in both countries under license. The armament, the ejection seats and some other parts (e.g. hydraulics ) were supplied from different countries.

Since both countries built their own prototypes due to the company's design, the first two completed their first twenty-minute flight almost simultaneously on October 31, 1974 from the airfields Bacau (with Colonel Gheorghe Stanica at the wheel) and Batajnica (with Major Vladislav Slavujević at the wheel). This was followed on January 29, 1977 by the two-seater trainer variant. From 1978 the first improved pre-series machines (larger tanks, slats, HUD ) were produced. The official troop introduction of the trainer and reconnaissance versions took place from 1981, whereby these machines did not yet correspond to the later series status and were also not yet equipped with the afterburner version of the Viper engine. This was only built into the later fighter-bomber version (then often referred to as the Orao 2), whereby a Yugoslav machine was first equipped with this drive. This had its maiden flight on October 20, 1983 and on November 22, 1984 it reached supersonic speed for the first time at Mach 1.032.

Romanian IAR-93
Serbian J-22 in special livery

The first flight of the Romanian variant (IAR-93B) with this engine followed on July 12, 1984. The last Yugoslav aircraft was delivered in February 1992.

In total, more than 200 IAR-93 and 210 J-22 Orao were built in the various variants. After increasing technical problems and crashes, Romania took the machine out of service in 1998.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the machine was used in various military operations and in the Bosnian War , with a large number devastated by NATO . Today 33 planes are still in service with the Serbian Air Force .

technology

The aircraft was designed as a light twin-engine fighter - bomber in all-metal construction as a shoulder- wing aircraft . In the series machines, the swept-back wings were given advanced surface roots. The conventional tail unit consisted of two fully movable horizontal tail units, a vertical tail unit and two stabilizing fins under the stern (not on later Romanian machines). In addition, the machine was equipped with two air brakes under the fuselage. Various versions of the Rolls-Royce Viper were used as the engine, the air inlets of which were on the side of the fuselage. This also housed the sturdy retractable landing gear, which consisted of two main landing gear with double tires and a single-tyred nose landing gear. To reduce the landing distance, a braking parachute was installed under the vertical stabilizer. The avionics were kept simple and included, in addition to VHF / UHF radios, a Honeywell gyrocompass, a Marconi autopilot , a radar altimeter, a range finder in the bow and a PFD-21 visor (from the MiG-21) in the cockpit. The later series machines also had a friend-foe recognition system. For self-protection, radar warning receivers and up to three decoy launchers were installed (under the rear fuselage). As ejection seat one came Martin Baker Mk.10 (used for the prototype still Mk.6). The armament consisted of two double-barreled 23-mm cannons as well as various rockets and bombs with a total weight of 2800 kg at five suspension points, two each of 500 kg on each wing and one with 800 kg load capacity under the fuselage.

Versions

  • J-22 Orao 1 / IAR-93A Vultur : respective basic / prototype version with afterburnerless Mk632-41 engine
  • NJ-22 : two-seat trainer version (Mk632-41)
  • IJ-22 : reconnaissance version (Mk632-41)
  • IAR-93MB Vultur : later production version, but still with the old engine
  • J-22 Arao 2 / IAR-93B : later production version with Mk633-47 afterburner engine
  • J-22 Arao 2D : Trainer version of the Arao 2

Users
88 x IAR Vultur (decommissioned 1998)
32 x J-22 Orao

Technical specifications

No. 25168
Yugoslav J-22 in the Aircraft Museum in Belgrade
span 9.63 m
length 14.88 m (15.38 m for the two-seater)
height 4.52 m
Wing area 26.00 m²
Empty mass 5,670 kg
maximum take-off mass ~ 11,000 kg
Top speed 1,160 km / h
Marching speed 900 km / h
Service ceiling 12,000 m
Range / radius of action 1,335 km / 530 km
Rate of climb 77 m / s
Load multiple -4.2 to +8 g
drive two Rolls-Royce Viper Mk.633-47 with afterburner and 22.24 kN thrust each
or two Mk632-41 without afterburner with 17.79 kN thrust each

Armament

fixed armament in the bow
Ordnance for a maximum of 2,800 kg on five external load carriers

Guns at IAR-93

Air-to-air guided missile
  • 2 × BD-60-21U start rails for 1 × Romania A-91 each (Wympel R-3S / AA-2 "Atoll" manufactured under license) - infrared-guided, self-targeting for short distances
Air-to-surface guided missile
  • 4 × APU-68UM start rails for 1 × A921 each (Swesda Ch-23M "Grom" / AS-7 "Kerry", manufactured under license in Romania) - radio-controlled
Unguided bombs
  • 4 × BM 500 (500 kg free fall bomb )
  • 4 × AM-500 marine mine
  • 5 × Hunting BL755 (264 kg anti-tank cluster bomb)
  • 5 × BM 250 (250 kg free fall bomb)
  • 5 × BE 100 (100 kg free-fall bomb)

Guns on the J-22

Air-to-air guided missile
  • 2 × APU-60-1 double start rails for 1 × Wympel R-60 MK (K-60 or AA-8 "Aphid") each - infrared-controlled, self-targeting for short distances
Air-to-surface guided missile
  • 4 × APU-68UM starting rails for 1 × “Grom-B” each ( Zvezda Ch-23M “Grom” / AS-7 “Kerry” manufactured under license in Yugoslavia) - radio-controlled
  • 4 × LAU-117A starting rail supports for 1 × Raytheon AGM-65A / B "Maverick" - TV-controlled
Unguided air-to-surface missiles
  • 4 × LPR 122 rocket tube launch containers for 4 × unguided S-13 air-to-surface missiles each ; Caliber 122 mm
  • 4 × LPR 57 rocket tube launch containers for 16 × unguided S-5 air-to-surface missiles each ; Caliber 57 mm
  • 4 × PRN 80 rocket tube launch containers for 20 × unguided S-8 air-to-ground missiles each ; Caliber 80 mm
Unguided bombs
External container

literature

  • Types of aircraft in the world. Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-86047-593-2 , p. 850.
  • J-22 Orao - exotic from the Balkans. In: FliegerRevue 3/2008, ISSN  0941-889X , pp. 24-27.

Web links

Commons : Soko J-22 Orao  - Collection of images, videos and audio files