SOKO
Industry | Aerospace |
---|---|
Predecessor | Ikarus |
Founded | 1950 |
Defunct | early 1990s |
Headquarters | , |
Soko (Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: Соко) was a Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer based in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company was responsible for the production of many military aircraft for the Yugoslav Air Force.[1]
SOKO was created in 1950 by the relocation of the aircraft factory section of
By the 1980s, SOKO was working on the
History
During the late 1940s, as a result of the
During 1957, Yugoslavia's VTI (Aeronautical Technical Institute) commenced design work on what would subsequently become the
During 1964, production of the Galeb commenced, making it the first indigenously-developed jet aircraft to enter mass production in Yugoslavia (the first jet-powered plane built by Yugoslavia was the
During 1970, the neighbouring nations of Romania and Yugoslavia began discussions on the subject of jointly developing a new ground-attack orientated fighter aircraft.[9] 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.[9] 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 Soko J-22 Orao.[9] Serial production of the J-22 was performed at SOKO's Mostar facility, production was brought to a halt in 1992, and the factory itself heavily damaged, by the series of events commonly referred to as the Yugoslav Wars.[10] Various upgrade programmes for the J-22 were proposed during the 1990s; reportedly, such efforts would have been focused upon its avionics.[10] 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.[11]
Another programme begun during the 1970s would result in the development of the
During the mid-1980s, the
During the 1990s, Yugoslavia disintegrated into several different nations, which quickly resulted in the Avion programme being abandoned due to the financial resources necessary to start production of the fighter having become unavailable following the break-up of the country. Reportedly, work had been initially halted due to the lack of funding while further efforts were made to acquire foreign partnership arrangements.[16] If the development had not been terminated, the first aircraft was scheduled to have conduct its maiden flight during 1992; the Avion was reportedly expected to enter squadron service at some point during the mid-2000s.[14]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, SOKO was involved in various partnerships. In addition to working with Avioane Craiova to co-develop the J-22 Orao/
Aircraft
Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Soko 522 | 1955 | ~110 | Single piston engine monoplane trainer |
Soko WS-55 | 38[20][a] | License built single piston engine utility helicopter | |
Soko J-20 Kraguj | 1962 | 43 | Single piston engine monoplane light attack airplane |
Soko J-21 Jastreb | 1965 | 224 | Single jet engine monoplane light attack airplane |
Soko J-22 Orao | 1974 | ~133[21] | Twin jet engine monoplane attack airplane |
Soko G-2 Galeb | 1961 | 248 | Single jet engine monoplane trainer |
Soko G-4 Super Galeb | 1978 | 85 | Single jet engine monoplane trainer |
Soko Gazelle | 132 | License built single turboshaft engine utility helicopter | |
Novi Avion | N/A | 0 | Unbuilt single jet engine monoplane multirole combat aircraft |
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ An additional 7 aircraft were supplied complete from Britain.
Notes
- ISBN 9780850451634.
- ^ "Нови авион" [Novi Avion]. Удружења за неговање ваздухопловних традиција Србије [Association for Nurturing Aviation Traditions of Serbia] (in Serbian). 18 September 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ^ "Yugoslavia - The Aviation Industry." eroflight.co.uk, Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- ^ a b c Flight International, 28 November 1968. p. 901.
- ^ a b "Twenty-Sixth SBAC Show... Military Research Aircraft." Flight International, 19 September 1968. p. 450.
- ^ Flight International, 28 November 1968. p. 904.
- ^ Flight International, 28 November 1968. p. 905.
- ^ "Census: military aircraft." Flight International, 18 February 2002. p. 48.
- ^ a b c Fredriksen 2001, p. 301.
- ^ a b Penney, Stewart. "Military Aircraft Directory Part 2." Flight International, 11 August 1999.
- ^ "Aviaone (formerly IAV Craiova)." Flight International, 22 October 1996.
- ^ a b "Jugoslavia develops new jet trainer." Flight International, 4 June 1983. p. 1647.
- ^ Chant 2014, p. 467.
- ^ a b c d "Dassault in Jugoslav fighter design deal." Flight International, 13 March 1990. p. 16.
- ^ "Partners sought for Novi Avion." Flight International, 10 April 1990. p. 25.
- ^ "Cash dearth halts Novi Avion fighter." Flight International, 2 July 1991. p. 17.
- ^ Zaire/DR Congo since 1980 at acig.org, retrieved 4 December 2013
- ^ Taylor 1982, p. 487.
- Museum of Aviation (Belgrade)official website, retrieved 4-12-2013 (in Serbian)
- ^ "FA Soko S-55 Mk.V". Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- ISBN 0-7106-1262-1. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
Bibliography
- Chant, Christopher (2014). A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. Routledge. ISBN 978-1134646685.
- Fredriksen, John C. (2001). International Warbirds: An Illustrated Guide to World Military Aircraft, 1914-2000. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-364-5.