.jpg/2000px-J-22_Orao_25121_241_LBAE_98_(cropped).jpg)
Recent from talks
Soko J-22 Orao
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Soko J-22 Orao
The Soko J-22 Orao (Serbian Cyrillic: Oрао, lit. 'eagle') is a Yugoslavian and later Serbian twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova in neighbouring Romania, being known in the latter as the IAR-93 Vultur.
The Orao was designed as either a single-seat main attack version or as a combat-capable twin-seat version, the latter being principally intended for advanced flight- and weapons-training duties. It was developed as a joint Yugoslav-Romanian project, known as YuRom, during the 1970s. Early ambitions to produce a supersonic fighter were scuppered by Britain's unwillingness to permit the desired engine to be license-produced in Eastern Europe. Further difficulties in fitting an afterburner to the older Rolls-Royce Viper also hindered development and the performance of early-build aircraft.
First flying during November 1974, the resulting aircraft would equip the air forces of both Romania and Yugoslavia, as well as several of Yugoslavia's successor states. On 22 November 1984, the Orao became the first Yugoslav-designed aircraft to exceed Mach 1, albeit achieved while in a shallow dive. During the 1990s, the type saw action during the Yugoslav Wars, typically flying ground-attack missions in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. As of July 2019, the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence was the only entity still operating the type.
During 1970, the neighbouring nations of Romania and Yugoslavia began discussions on the subject of jointly developing a new ground-attack orientated fighter aircraft. On 20 May 1971, the Romanian and Yugoslavian governments signed an agreement for the formation of YuRom, a joint research and development venture between the two nations. According to aviation author John C. Fredriksen, the announcement was a logical extension of political policy, as the two nations' heads of state, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and Nicolae Ceaușescu, had both historically sought to avoid overreliance upon the Soviet Union, preferring to build ties and cooperative projects with other friendly or neutral nations.
The research programme was headed by Dipl. Dr. Engineer Teodor Zanfirescu of Romania and Colonel Vidoje Knezević of Yugoslavia.[citation needed] The aircraft was intended to be a replacement for both the lightly armed Soko J-21 Jastreb and the Republic F-84 Thunderjet that were then in the Yugoslav People's Army's (JNA) arsenal.[citation needed] The requirements called for a lightweight aircraft that featured a relatively simple and rugged structure, that would use locally produced equipment and avionics, capable of operating from austere airstrips (including the ability to operate either from grass or damaged runways), as well as being reliable and easy to maintain.[citation needed]
The resulting design was of a conventional twin-engine monoplane, featuring a high-mounted wing complete with all-swept flight surfaces. According to Fredriksen, the design emphasised simplicity as well as modernity. Due to political sensitivities and a strong desire to avoid one nation upstaging the other, the aircraft featured two separate names; in Romania, it was known as the IAR-93 Vultur while in Yugoslavia it was referred to as the J-22 Orao.
The design team had originally planned to develop a single-engined aircraft capable of supersonic speeds, but the United Kingdom would not authorize the license to produce the British engine that the designers had selected; the rejection was reportedly due to Romania being a member of the Soviet-aligned Warsaw Pact.[citation needed] In its place, the less-powerful Rolls-Royce Viper was chosen as the powerplant, as Soko already possessed experience with license-building this engine. It was originally intended that an afterburner would be developed for the Viper engine, but there were prolonged difficulties with this project. Due to these complications, none of the pre-production aircraft or any early production examples would be equipped with afterburners; these would be largely restricted to conducting reconnaissance missions. During the 1980s, both countries developed slightly different versions of the aircraft to take advantage of the afterburning engines that had since become available.
During 31 October 1974, the Yugoslav prototype 25002 conducted its first flight from Batajnica Air Base near Belgrade, with Major Vladislav Slavujević at the controls. For political reasons, this flight was timed to deliberately coincide with the first flight of the IAR-93 Vultur prototype. The third aircraft, numbered 25003, which was a pre-production two-seater version, performed its first flight on 4 July 1977. This aircraft was lost almost one year later, the cause of the accident was attributed to the occurrence of tail flutter.[citation needed]
Hub AI
Soko J-22 Orao AI simulator
(@Soko J-22 Orao_simulator)
Soko J-22 Orao
The Soko J-22 Orao (Serbian Cyrillic: Oрао, lit. 'eagle') is a Yugoslavian and later Serbian twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova in neighbouring Romania, being known in the latter as the IAR-93 Vultur.
The Orao was designed as either a single-seat main attack version or as a combat-capable twin-seat version, the latter being principally intended for advanced flight- and weapons-training duties. It was developed as a joint Yugoslav-Romanian project, known as YuRom, during the 1970s. Early ambitions to produce a supersonic fighter were scuppered by Britain's unwillingness to permit the desired engine to be license-produced in Eastern Europe. Further difficulties in fitting an afterburner to the older Rolls-Royce Viper also hindered development and the performance of early-build aircraft.
First flying during November 1974, the resulting aircraft would equip the air forces of both Romania and Yugoslavia, as well as several of Yugoslavia's successor states. On 22 November 1984, the Orao became the first Yugoslav-designed aircraft to exceed Mach 1, albeit achieved while in a shallow dive. During the 1990s, the type saw action during the Yugoslav Wars, typically flying ground-attack missions in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. As of July 2019, the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence was the only entity still operating the type.
During 1970, the neighbouring nations of Romania and Yugoslavia began discussions on the subject of jointly developing a new ground-attack orientated fighter aircraft. On 20 May 1971, the Romanian and Yugoslavian governments signed an agreement for the formation of YuRom, a joint research and development venture between the two nations. According to aviation author John C. Fredriksen, the announcement was a logical extension of political policy, as the two nations' heads of state, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and Nicolae Ceaușescu, had both historically sought to avoid overreliance upon the Soviet Union, preferring to build ties and cooperative projects with other friendly or neutral nations.
The research programme was headed by Dipl. Dr. Engineer Teodor Zanfirescu of Romania and Colonel Vidoje Knezević of Yugoslavia.[citation needed] The aircraft was intended to be a replacement for both the lightly armed Soko J-21 Jastreb and the Republic F-84 Thunderjet that were then in the Yugoslav People's Army's (JNA) arsenal.[citation needed] The requirements called for a lightweight aircraft that featured a relatively simple and rugged structure, that would use locally produced equipment and avionics, capable of operating from austere airstrips (including the ability to operate either from grass or damaged runways), as well as being reliable and easy to maintain.[citation needed]
The resulting design was of a conventional twin-engine monoplane, featuring a high-mounted wing complete with all-swept flight surfaces. According to Fredriksen, the design emphasised simplicity as well as modernity. Due to political sensitivities and a strong desire to avoid one nation upstaging the other, the aircraft featured two separate names; in Romania, it was known as the IAR-93 Vultur while in Yugoslavia it was referred to as the J-22 Orao.
The design team had originally planned to develop a single-engined aircraft capable of supersonic speeds, but the United Kingdom would not authorize the license to produce the British engine that the designers had selected; the rejection was reportedly due to Romania being a member of the Soviet-aligned Warsaw Pact.[citation needed] In its place, the less-powerful Rolls-Royce Viper was chosen as the powerplant, as Soko already possessed experience with license-building this engine. It was originally intended that an afterburner would be developed for the Viper engine, but there were prolonged difficulties with this project. Due to these complications, none of the pre-production aircraft or any early production examples would be equipped with afterburners; these would be largely restricted to conducting reconnaissance missions. During the 1980s, both countries developed slightly different versions of the aircraft to take advantage of the afterburning engines that had since become available.
During 31 October 1974, the Yugoslav prototype 25002 conducted its first flight from Batajnica Air Base near Belgrade, with Major Vladislav Slavujević at the controls. For political reasons, this flight was timed to deliberately coincide with the first flight of the IAR-93 Vultur prototype. The third aircraft, numbered 25003, which was a pre-production two-seater version, performed its first flight on 4 July 1977. This aircraft was lost almost one year later, the cause of the accident was attributed to the occurrence of tail flutter.[citation needed]
Recent media