Romanian Air Force IAR 330
IAR 330
The IAR 330 is the Romanian-built version of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma helicopter, manufactured by IAR Brasov. Twenty-four helicopters were upgraded to IAR 330 SOCAT in cooperation with Elbit Systems (Israel).
Despite being a COMECON and Warsaw Pact member, Romania strove for some measure of independence from the USSR. Instead of buying popular Soviet designs, Romania bought a licence to manufacture the French Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma on 30 July 1974. The first licensed helicopter was flown on 22 October 1975 under the designation IAR-330L.
At least 163 of these helicopters have been built, out of which 104 were assigned to Romania's military, 2 were retained by the manufacturer and 57 were produced for export (Pakistan, Ivory Coast, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Ecuador). There is also a search and rescue (SAR) version, fitted with inflatable floats for an emergency landing at sea, which has been built in a small batch. Production is still ongoing at the Industria Aeronautica Romana plant at Ghimbav near Brasov.
In the 1990s, the Romanian Air Force decided to enhance the combat capabilities of the IAR 330L, making it a universal anti-tank and support helicopter. At that time, Romania started to cooperate with Israel on some military programs. The Israeli company Elbit Systems was chosen, and in September 1995 the Romanian Air Force signed a contract to upgrade 24 helicopters with the SOCAT system (Sistem Optronic de Cercetare si Anti-Tanc). The first IAR 330L SOCAT was flown on 26 May 1998, from IAR's airfield in Ghimbav, near Brasov. On 23 October 1999, the second prototype flew. The first IAR 330L SOCAT was delivered to a combat unit in 2001. In all, 25 SOCATs were made, including the prototype, rebuilt to production standard in 2005.
The IAR 330M NATO is a modernized transport version with the SOCAT version's avionics but without weapons and optronic systems. Among others, it has a weather radar. Twelve IAR 330Ls were modernized to 330M standard between 2005 and 2008.