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| J-22 Orao | |
|---|---|
.jpg) J-22 Orao of theSerbian air force | |
| General information | |
| Type | Attack aircraft Reconnaissance aircraft |
| Manufacturer | SOKO |
| Designer | VTI - Yugoslavia INCAS - Romania |
| Status | Active |
| Primary users | Serbian Air Force |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1974–1992 |
| Introduction date | 1978 |
| First flight | 31 October 1974[1] |
| Variants | IAR-93 Vultur |
TheSoko J-22 Orao (Serbian Cyrillic:Oрао,lit. 'eagle') is aYugoslavian/Serbian twin-engined,subsonicground-attack andaerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration bySOKO in Yugoslavia and byAvioane Craiova in neighbouringRomania, being known in the latter as theIAR-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 asYuRom, during the 1970s. Early ambitions to produce asupersonic fighter were scuppered by Britain's unwillingness to permit the desired engine to belicense-produced in Eastern Europe. Further difficulties in fitting anafterburner to the olderRolls-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 exceedMach 1, albeit achieved while in a shallow dive. During the 1990s, the type saw action during theYugoslav Wars, typically flying ground-attack missions inCroatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,[citation needed] and Kosovo. As of July 2019, theSerbian Air Force and Air Defence was the only entity still operating the type.
During 1970, the neighbouring nations ofRomania andYugoslavia began discussions on the subject of jointly developing a newground-attack orientated fighter aircraft.[1][2] On 20 May 1971, the Romanian and Yugoslavian governments signed an agreement for the formation ofYuRom, a jointresearch 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 andNicolae Ceaușescu, had both historically sought to avoid overreliance upon theSoviet Union, preferring to build ties and cooperative projects with other friendly or neutral nations.[1]
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 armedSoko J-21 Jastreb and theRepublic F-84 Thunderjet that were then in theYugoslav 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.[1] 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 theIAR-93 Vultur while in Yugoslavia it was referred to as the J-22 Orao.[1]
The design team had originally planned to develop a single-engined aircraft capable ofsupersonic speeds, but the United Kingdom would not authorize thelicense to produce the British engine that the designers had selected; the rejection was reportedly due to Romania being a member of the Soviet-alignedWarsaw Pact.[citation needed] In its place, the less-powerfulRolls-Royce Viper was chosen as the powerplant, as Soko already possessed experience with license-building this engine.[1] It was originally intended that anafterburner 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.[1] During the 1980s, both countries developed slightly different versions of the aircraft to take advantage of the afterburning engines that had since become available.[3][4]
During 31 October 1974, the Yugoslav prototype25002 conducted itsfirst flight fromBatajnica Air Base nearBelgrade, with Major Vladislav Slavujević at the controls.[2] For political reasons, this flight was timed to deliberately coincide with the first flight of the IAR-93 Vultur prototype.[1] The third aircraft, numbered25003, 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 oftail flutter.[citation needed]
Construction of further pre-production aircraft was unimpacted by the loss; during 1978, the first batches of pre-production machines were delivered to the Air Force Aircraft Testing Facility in Belgrade.[citation needed] Subsequent serial production was established at a facility outsideMostar, (now inBosnia and Herzegovina); this facility would be abandoned in early 1992 and heavily damaged during theYugoslav Wars.[5] TheYugoslav Army reportedly stripped most of the equipment from the Mostar factory and transported as much as possible to theUtva facility inPancevo, Serbia.[2] However, in spite of this effort, volume production of the J-22 would never be resumed either in Yugoslavia or in its successor states.[1][2]
During October 1983, the first afterburner-equipped J-22 Orao was flown in Yugoslavia.[6] On 22 November 1984, an Orao No 25101 broke thesound barrier while in a shallow dive at an angle of 25 degrees, piloted by test pilot Marjan Jelen, above Batajnica airport.;[7][8] this instance made the J-22 the first Yugoslav-designed aircraft to exceedMach 1.[citation needed] The aircraft is incapable of breaking the sound barrier in level flight, so it is classified as being asubsonic aircraft.[citation needed]
The J-22 Orao is a twin-engined combat jet aircraft designed for performingclose air support (CAS), ground-attack andtactical reconnaissance missions, it also features a limitedair-defense capability.[2] Twin-seat aircraft, designatedNJ-22, were primarily intended for performing tactical reconnaissance; they were also used to train air crew, being suitable for both the advanced flight and weapons training syllabuses.[2] In terms of its configuration, it featured a shoulder-mounted wing and a pair of 23 mm twin-barrel cannon within the lower forward fuselage. It could be outfitted with a range of armaments, includingbombs,rockets, andair-to-surface missiles.[2] The cockpit was furnished withMartin-Baker-built zero/zeroejection seats. The engine-driven starter and generators were supplied byLucas Industries.[2] Access to the engine for servicing and inspection was eased by the design of the rear fuselage, which was detachable.[2]
The Orao was provisioned with standard communication and navigation equipment, the latter including aHoneywell-built SGP500 twin-gyroscope navigation system.[9] It incorporated a fire control and weapons management system, which used theThomson-CSF-built VE-120Thead-up display (HUD). Additional avionics includedGEC-Marconi's three-axis stability augmentation system andRockwell Collins' VIR-30 (or DME-40)VHF omnidirectional range andinstrument landing system.[2] In terms of defensive sensors and systems, it was equipped with an Iskra SO-1radar warning receiver (RWR) and provision for up to threechaff/flare dispensers, as well as a P10-65-13 passivejammer pod. Further pods could be optionally fitted, including an optical/infrared reconnaissance pod or an optical reconnaissance/jammer pod.[9]
Various upgrade programmes for the J-22 had been proposed during the 1990s; reportedly, such efforts would have been focused upon the aircraft's avionics.[5] However, such ambitions were heavily undermined by the dismantling of the Mostar factory during the Yugoslav Wars and the collapse of Romania's communist government.[3] During the late 2010s, Serbia launched a major modernisation programme involving both its J-22 and NJ-22 fleets.[10] Unofficially referred to asOrao 2.0, this work involved the installation of new navigation and targeting systems, includingSafran's Sigma 95inertial navigation system, a mission computer andmulti-function displays, into the NJ-22's rear cockpit which, along with new weapons, is intended to make the type more effective in ground attack missions. A more comprehensive second phase is to achieve the "complete digitalisation" of the aircraft's cockpit.[10]
The firstYugoslav Air Force unit to receive the J-22 was the 351st reconnaissance aviation squadron of the 82nd Aviation Brigade,Cerklje.[citation needed] Until the1991 war,there were only three squadrons fully equipped with J-22 attack aircraft and NJ-22 trainer-attack aircraft, these being the 238th fighter-bomber aviation squadron of the 82nd Aviation Brigade; the 241st squadron, 98th Aviation Brigade; and the 242nd squadron, 127th Fighter-Bomber Regiment,Golubovci Airbase[citation needed]. There were also about three squadrons partly equipped with J-22s.[citation needed]
At the beginning of the Yugoslav wars, inSlovenia, J-22s flew over in a show of force, but did not drop any bombs.[citation needed] During 1991, the first offensive action to be conducted by the J-22 occurred when theYugoslav People's Army (JNA) used them to strike targets inCroatia.[citation needed]
As a result of the conflicts of the 1990s, the majority of the former Yugoslav Air Force's aircraft were relocated to theUnion of Serbia and Montenegro, with smaller numbers ending up under the control of the other new states created by the break-up of Yugoslavia.[11] The JNA left a squadron equipped with nine Oraos in the Bosnian-SerbRepublika Srpska, with these aircraft becoming part of the newRepublika Srpska Air Force, based atMahovljani Airport outside Banja Luka.[12] The airworthiness of these aircraft soon deteriorated due to the combination of limited funding and the impact ofinternational embargoes.[citation needed] By June 2003, the Republika Srpska Air Force had a force of seven J-22 Oraos.[11] These aircraft were ultimately inherited by the unifiedBosnian Air Force. By 2008, all of Bosnia's J-22s had been placed into storage while the nation negotiated with neighbouring Serbia to potentially buy them; reportedly, Serbia was viewed as the only viable customer for the type.[13] Several ex-Yugoslav Air Force J-22s were also operated by the Air Force of theRepublic of Serbian Krajina following the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia.[14]
During 1999, Yugoslav J-22s saw limited combat against theKosovo Liberation Army (KLA), reportedly flying 36 combat missions.[15] One J-22, piloted by Lt. Colonel Života Ðurić, was lost on 25 March 1999 in unclear circumstances, either through malfunction, pilot error or ground fire from KLA units.[15] In addition, eleven aircraft were destroyed on the ground, the majority of these at Ponikve Air Base, when aNATO air strike hit one hangar that reportedly had six J-22 and twoMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 aircraft inside.[citation needed]
By 2019, the Serbian Air Force was reportedly operating a fleet comprising ten J-22 and NJ-22 Oraos; in addition to these airworthy examples, the service reportedly also had further airframes in storage, including the IJ and INJ reconnaissance variants.[citation needed] According to aerospace periodicalFlight International, the Orao's service life had been originally anticipated to be around 24 years; based on structural inspections, some airframes are in such good condition that this forecast could be effectively doubled; following an overhaul, individual J-22s can be approved to perform a further 1,000 flight hours.[10]
Data fromJane's All The World's Aircraft 1993-94,[20]International Air Power Review Vol.3[21]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
