This year’s NATO Days in Ostrava will welcome the members of Romania Air Force. Althgough last year there was presentation of medium cargo aircraft C-130 Hercules, this time our Romanian guests are going to show its new light cargo aircraft C-27 Spartan and very little known trainer IAR-99.  

It was in the April of this year, when the Romanian Air Force received first two of its seven ordered C-27 Spartans and in September they are going to present them on the NATO Days on static display. In 2007, this light cargo aircraft of the Alenia Company could be seen over Mosnov airport in flight. it competes On the world market with the C-295 of the Spanish CASA company. The visitors of the NATO Days will have the opportunity to compare both of these types, because C-295 will be present in both Czech and Polish colours. The C-295 has a one huge export success over C-27, because it was chosen by the U.S. Air Force as a light transport aircraft for short distance.

„We are very pleased, that we can continue in cooperation with Romania from the previous year. We are even happier that they are coming with an aircraft which they have had no opportunity to show yet. But the second plane- IAR -99 - is also very interesting and it will attract a lot of attention,“ says Zbyňek Pavlačík, the chairman of Jagello 2000 Association, which is the main organiser of the NATO Days. He also praises the fact that participants from the previous NATO Days like to come back. It tells a lot about the quality of the show.

The development of the IAR-99 began in the middle eighties, when Romania started to think about perspective replacement of its trainer fleet. The domestic type was chosen and it evolved into the IAR-99. It entered service in late 1980’s. The fall of the Iron Curtain opened it a huge landscape for export. However the success of aerodynamically very good plane was being restrained by outdated avionics. Romania searched long time for a partner, who would enable to modernise IAR-99 for the world standard. The partner was found in the Israeli company IAI and the modernised IAR-99 „Soim“(Hawk) arose from the mutual cooperation. It serves as a training platform for MiG-21 „Lancer“, but it is also compatible with modern fighters such as F-16, F-18 and JAS-39. It is going to be seen both in static and dynamic display.

Author: Michal Mádl

See you at the 10^th NATO Days in Ostrava,
1^st Czech Air Force Days,
and AirIn Fair 2010!