IAR 330
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| IAR 330 Puma | |
|---|---|
 IAR 330 SOCAT |
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| Type | utility/attack/naval helicopter |
| Manufacturers | Industria Aeronautică Română |
| Maiden flight | 26th May 1998 (SOCAT) |
| Introduced | 1999 (SOCAT) |
| Status | operational |
| Primary users | Romanian Air Force, Romanian Navy Various |
| Number built | 163+ |
The IAR 330 is the Romanian-built version of Aérospatiale's SA 330 Puma helicopter. Twenty-four helicopters have been recently upgraded to IAR 330 SOCAT in cooperation with Elbit Systems (Israel).[1]
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[edit] Design and development
According to the CFE treaty, Romania may have 120 attack helicopters in the inventory. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) decided that the procurement program in this field should include 96 dedicated attack helicopters, to be built by the Romanian aerospace industry under foreign license and 24 IAR-330L "Puma" upgraded with a suitable avionics package and new weapons system. Both program were intended to be developed by IAR S.A. Ghimbav-Brasov. The former was to be the ill-fated "Dracula" program, dropped in 1999. A basic configuration was established in 1992 as Puma 2000. By the extension of this configuration, resulted the Antitank Optronic Search and Combat System (SOCAT) to be used as antitank gunship . The Israeli company Elbit Systems Ltd. was selected as foreign system supplier in 1994, and in September 1995, IAR S.A. signed the contract for the upgrade of 24 IAR-330L Puma with the SOCAT system. The program started in 1996, as a joint activity of the Romanian MoD, IAR S.A. and Elbit Systems. The first IAR-330 upgraded with SOCAT system, was Black 28 made its maiden flight in the SOCAT configuration on May 26, 1998. On October 23,1999 at 13.00 local time, the second prototype of the IAR-330L Puma, upgraded with the SOCAT system and registered as Black 41, made its first flight from the airport of IAR S.A. from Ghimbav, near Brasov, Romania. More than 163 of these helicopters have been built, out of which 104 were assigned to Romania's military, and 57 were produced for export (Pakistan, Ivory Coast, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Ecuador). There is also a SAR (search and rescue) version, fitted with inflatable floaters for emergency landing at sea, which has been built in a small batch. Production is still ongoing at the Industria Aeronautică Română Ghimbav plant near Braşov.
[edit] Naval version
The first IAR 330 Puma NAVAL helicopter was officially unveiled at Ghimbav on January 30, 2007. The Romanian Naval Forces ordered 3 IAR 330 Naval helicopters, the last one should be commissioned early 2008. The helicopter is in a similar configuration to those of the Romanian Air Force, including the SOCAT upgrade package, the Navy Pumas also have flotation gear fitted under the nose and main undercarriage fairings. After completing factory tests and sea trials , they will be operated from Navy frigates for search and rescue, medevac and maritime surveillance missions.
[edit] Operators
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[edit] Specifications
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.General characteristics
- Crew: three
- Length: 15.0 m (49 ft 2 in)
- Rotor diameter: 16.2 m (53 ft 1 in)
- Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)
- Empty weight: 3,615 kg (7,970 lb)
- Useful load: 1,000 kg (2,204lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 7,400 kg (16,300 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× 2x TURMO IV B turboshafts, 1,044 kW (1,400 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 263 km/h (142 knots, 164 mph)
- Range: 550 km (297 nm, 342 mi)
- Service ceiling 4,800 m (15,750 ft)
Armament Puma
- 2 x 23mm single barrel NR-23 gun pods (on the sides of the nose) with 400 rounds each
- LPR 57 unguided rocket launcher (4 hardpoints)
- 2 x 12.7mm caliber door mounted DShKM machine guns (usually only one mounted on the starboard side)
- Malyutka wire guided ATGM (4 rails above the hardpoints, used only on trials)
- 50 or 100 kg bombs (4 hardpoints, used only on trials)
Puma SOCAT
- Nexter THL-20 20mm chain gun (chin mounted) with 850 rounds
- LPR 57 unguided rocket launcher (inner 2 hardpoints)
- 8 RAFAEL Spike-ER anti-tank guided missiles (outer 2 hardpoints)
- Nexter NC-621 20mm gun pod with 180 rounds (outer 2 hardpoints, used only on trials)
Avionics
- Helicopter Multi-Role Computer
- Dual MIL-STD-1553B Bus
- Multi-Functional Cockpit Displays
- Digitized Moving Map
- Multi-Functional Color Display
- Embedded GPS/INS Navigation
- V/UHF frequency hopping transceivers
- Cockpit Interface Units
- Night Vision System
- Hand-On-Collective-And-Stick (HOCAS)
- GRIPS for weapon and EOP
- Observation and Targeting:
- Nose mounted stabilized EOP with FLIR, Video-CCD, Laser Range Finder and autotracking
- Helmet Sighting System
- Survavibility Features:
- Chaff and Flares
- Radar Warning
- Laser Warning
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
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Related development Aérospatiale Puma
Comparable aircraft Eurocopter Cougar - Eurocopter Super Puma - IAR 330L Socat
Related lists
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