Soko J-22 Orao

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J-22 Orao
J-22 Orao of the Serbian air force
General information
Type	Attack aircraft Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	SOKO
Designer	VTI - Yugoslavia INCAS - Romania
Status	Active
Primary users	Serbian Air Force Yugoslav Air Force (historical) Bosnian Air Force (historical)
History
Manufactured	1974–1992
Introduction date	1978
First flight	31 October 1974[1]
Variants	IAR-93 Vultur

The Soko J-22 Orao (Serbian Cyrillic: Oрао, lit. 'eagle') is a Yugoslavian/Serbian twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioane Craiova in neighbouring Romania, being known in the latter as the IAR-93 Vultur.

The Orao was designed as either a single-seat main attack version or as a combat-capable twin-seat version, the latter being principally intended for advanced flight- and weapons-training duties. It was developed as a joint Yugoslav-Romanian project, known as YuRom, during the 1970s. Early ambitions to produce a supersonic fighter were scuppered by Britain's unwillingness to permit the desired engine to be license-produced in Eastern Europe. Further difficulties in fitting an afterburner to the older Rolls-Royce Viper also hindered development and the performance of early-build aircraft.

First flying during November 1974, the resulting aircraft would equip the air forces of both Romania and Yugoslavia, as well as several of Yugoslavia's successor states. On 22 November 1984, the Orao became the first Yugoslav-designed aircraft to exceed Mach 1, albeit achieved while in a shallow dive. During the 1990s, the type saw action during the Yugoslav Wars, typically flying ground-attack missions in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,^{[citation needed]} and Kosovo. As of July 2019, the Serbian Air Force and Air Defence was the only entity still operating the type.