IAR 330

The IAR 330 is the Romanian-built version of Aérospatiale's SA 330 Puma helicopter, manufactured by IAR Braşov. Twenty-four helicopters have been recently upgraded to IAR 330 SOCAT in cooperation with Elbit Systems (Israel).

Production
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.

163 of these helicopters have been built, out of which 104 were assigned to Romania's military, 2 remained in factory 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 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.

SOCAT version
In 1990s, the Romanian Air Force decided to enhance combat capabilities of 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 the 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 the airport of IAR S.A. in Ghimbav, near Braşov. 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 a serial configuration in 2005.

IAR-330M NATO Puma is a modernized transport version, with SOCAT version's avionics, but without weapons and optronic systems. Among others, it has a weather radar. 12 helicopters IAR-330L were modernized to 330M in 2005-2008.

Naval version
The first IAR 330 Puma NAVAL helicopter was officially unveiled at Ghimbav on 30 January 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.

Variants



 * IAR 330H - initial model (1975-1977).
 * IAR 330L - improved model (1977-present).
 * IAR 330M - modernized variant.
 * IAR 330L SOCAT - attack helicopter.
 * IAR 330 NAVAL - naval helicopter.
 * IAR 330 SM - export configuration for UAE.

Operators

 * Ivory Coast Air Force - 4
 * Air Force of the DRC - 1
 * Kenya Air Force - 9
 * Lebanese Air Force - 6
 * Pakistan Army - 4
 * Romanian Air Force - 35
 * Romanian Navy - 3
 * Sudanese Air Force - 10
 * United Arab Emirates Air Force - 10
 * Pakistan Army - 4
 * Romanian Air Force - 35
 * Romanian Navy - 3
 * Sudanese Air Force - 10
 * United Arab Emirates Air Force - 10
 * Sudanese Air Force - 10
 * United Arab Emirates Air Force - 10
 * United Arab Emirates Air Force - 10

Notable incidents

 * An IAR 330 SOCAT crashed on August 16th 2001 during a training flight. The crash occurred at an altitude of 50 metres, wounding the crew.
 * An IAR 330 SOCAT helicopter crashed on November 7, 2007, in Ungheni, 30 km south of Piteşti, Argeş County, during a night training mission, killing all three crew members.
 * An IAR 330 SOCAT crashed on March 7th 2013 in Beresti-Bistrita, near Bacau, during a training flight, killing two crew members and wounding three other crew members. Romanian Air Force and Navy grounded the entire IAR 330 SOCAT fleet pending an investigation into the crash.