Industria Aeronautică Română

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1925 1968, re-established[1]
Headquarters	Brașov , Romania
Key people	Elie Carafoli Radu Manicatide Iosif Șilimon
Website	www.iar.ro

Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) (nowIAR S.A. Brașov), orRomanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is aRomanianaerospace manufacturer.^[2] It is based inGhimbav, nearBrașov-Ghimbav International Airport, Romania.

IAR was founded in 1925 with the aid of the Romanian government, which sought to reduce reliance on foreign companies to supply theRoyal Romanian Air Force with aircraft and associated equipment. In addition to its designs, the company built numerous foreign-designed aircraftunder license as well. IAR produced a low-wing all-metalmonoplane, theIAR 80, during theSecond World War; this combat aircraft was extensively used by the nation during the conflict. During theCold War era, the company branched out intohelicopters, securing licensing agreements with France for their designs in the field, leading to theIAR 316 andIAR 330. In 2000, IAR partnered with the multinational helicopter manufacturerEurocopter Group to create theEurocopter Romaniajoint venture company. Presently, the company employs around 1,200 specialists including more than 170 engineers; it carries out upgrades, revisions, and overhauls on helicopters and light aircraft.^[3]

To ensure that theRoyal Romanian Air Force (theAeronautica Regală Română, orARR) would be supplied with aircraft without reliance on foreign producers, the Romanian government subsidized the creation of three major aircraft manufacturers in the interbellum period. The first wasSocietatea pentru Exploatări Tehnice (SET) which was founded inBucharest in 1923. Next came IAR, which was formed in Brașov since 1925. Finally there wasÎntreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice Românești (ICAR), which was created in Bucharest in 1932, and operated a factory in Brașov known asICA-Brașov (Întreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice - Brașov).

One of the engineers designing IAR aircraft in the early 1930s wasElie Carafoli. During 1930, IAR's first original aircraft, theIAR CV 11, performed itsmaiden flight; it functioned as an experimental design only.^[4] One of its earliest aircraft to reach quantity production was theIAR 14, a trainer aircraft derived from theIAR 12 prototype.^[5] TheIAR 27 was a more advanced trainer that was introduced in larger quantities during the late 1930s.^[6]

In addition to pursuing its own designs, IAR also pursued work via thelicensed production of foreign-developed aircraft.Poland's innovativePZL P.11 fighter captured the attention of Romanian officials, leading to a batch of 95 aircraft, referred to as theP.11f, being built by IAR starting in 1936.^[7] TheRomanian Air Force was greatly appreciative of the type, which heavily contributed to the decision to also licensed produce its upgraded derivative, thePZL P.24, which had been designed exclusively for the export market. Both models would see combat service during theSecond World War.^[8]

IAR worked throughout the conflict to produce large numbers of combat aircraft to equip the Romanian military. Perhaps one of the most significant aircraft to be produced by the company was built during these years in the form of theIAR 80, a low-wingmonoplane all-metalmonocoquefighter andground-attack aircraft. When it first flew in 1939, the IAR 80 was claimed to be comparable to contemporary designs being deployed by the most advanced military powers, including the BritishHawker Hurricane and the GermanMesserschmitt Bf 109E.^[9] An improved model, theIAR 81 fighter aircraft, was designed and produced mid-way through the war as well.^[2] The type remained in frontline use until May 1945, when theconflict was brought to an end.^[10]

AfterWorld War II, starting from 1946, the production of IAR was oriented towards the manufacture of tractors. The first tractor produced being theIAR 22.^[11][12]

Between 1945 and 1947, under the coordination ofRadu Manicatide andRadu Mărdărescu, IAR developed a microcar, namedM.R., and an automobile. However, the company did not persist with road vehicle development in the long term.^[13] From 1947, IAR became theIntreprinderea Metalurgica de Stat (State Ironworks) and from 1948, the company was renamed toUzina Tractorul Brașov [ro] (UTB).^[11][12]

The current IAR was re-established in 1968 atGhimbav, under the nameIntreprinderea de Construcţii Aeronautice (ICA).^[1] The ICA developed from the formerIntreprinderea de Industrie Locală (IIL) glider manufacturer.^[14] During this time, the company began to producehelicopters,motor gliders andairplanes, besidesgliders. Romania arranged multiple licensing agreements with France, resulting in IAR producingAérospatiale'sSA 316B Alouette III under the local designation ofIAR 316.^[15] The company also manufactured a localised version of theAérospatiale SA 330 Puma, designatedIAR 330.^[16] These rotorcraft were not only manufactured for domestic consumption, such as the Romanian Air Force, but also for the global market; roughly one-third of all IAR 330s were reportedly sold to export customers.^[16][17] During the late 1980s, aSoviet-Romanian partnership led to the development of theKamov Ka-126 helicopter; only a handful were built before production was terminated shortly following theRomanian Revolution and the collapse of the Communist government.^[18]

Since 1968, IAR has produced more than 360 helicopters, along with 830 gliders and including motor gliders, as well as 136light aircraft.^[1]

During the late 1990s, American aerospace companyBell Helicopters entered negotiations on the topic of acquiring a majority stake in IAR.^[19] According to aerospace periodicalFlight International, Bell was at one stage set to purchase a 70 percent shareholding in the firm; this arrangement was closely tied to a planned procurement of theAH-1RO Draculaattack helicopter by Romania, which would have been manufactured locally by IAR.^[20] However, by 1998, the purchase was put on hold while efforts were made to raise funds for the AH-1RO purchase.^[21][22] Following a period of negotiations, in November 1999, Bell announced that it had abandoned its intentions to take over IAR and to locally produce the AH-1RO.^[23]

During 2000, it was announced that the multinational helicopter manufacturerEurocopter Group was holding discussions over its own bid for IAR.^[24] Later that same year, IAR establishedEurocopter Romania in conjunction with Eurocopter, the former held a 49% stake in the newly createdjoint venture.^[25][26] In November 2015,Airbus Helicopters announced plans to invest €52 million in a Romanian facility to manufacture the 8.6tH215M Super Puma; this arrangement was reportedly reliant upon an initial order for 16 being placed by theRomanian government to extend the type's production.^[27][28]

• Aviation in Romania
• IAR 111

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