The first of 10 IAR-99S complex educational aircraft upgraded to the popular SM for the Romanian Air Force was deployed to the Ghercesti site in Avioane Craiova on December 22, 2023.
Now with a color scheme similar to that used on the service’s Lockheed Martin F-16s, the main aircraft, serial number 715, also began engine testing on the ground.
Only limited details about the modernization have been provided, but video footage from the deployment event shows that the IAR-99SM’s upgraded cockpit replicates an F-16-style design, with a new front-end demonstration and multi-function presentations provided through Elbit Systems. .
Elbit has been appointed as Avioane Craiova’s subcontractor on the SM task, a $27 million deal signed in December 2020. A follow-on agreement reached with the Romanian Ministry of Defense in March 2023 also covers the provision of an “on-board virtual avionics formula for live training. . . “Navigation and Weapons Activation Systems”.
The Ministry of Defence had signed a 275 million lei ($60 million) contract with Avioane Craiova in May 2020, offering that the first example would carry out verification tests in June 2022 and that the 10 modernised coaches would be back in service until May 2024.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic significantly delayed this schedule, and the programme’s other nine trainers are currently in various stages of repair and overhaul.
Bucharest’s investment in modernization will allow the upgraded IAR-99SMs to serve for 10 to 15 more years, preparing pilots for its existing F-16s and Lockheed’s planned long-term F-35A fleet.
The Romanian air force’s inventory also includes nine IAR-99C Soim light-attack aircraft, which are capable of performing close air support and reconnaissance tasks.
The first teaching jet aircraft designed and built entirely in Romania, the Rolls-Royce Viper-powered IAR-99, made its maiden flight on 21 December 1985. It went into serial production in 1987, replacing the Aero Vodochody L-29 and L-39 trainers. A total of 27 examples were built, 3 prototypes.
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