page_title: Soko J-22 Orao
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Soko J-22 Orao / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: Serbian Air Force Soko J-22 Orao
context_page_description: The Soko J-22 Orao is a Yugoslav 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.
context_section_description: The J-22 Orao is a twin-engined combat jet aircraft designed for performing close air support (CAS), ground-attack and tactical reconnaissance missions, it also features a limited air-defense capability. The twin-seat version, the NJ-22, was primarily assigned for various training purposes, including the advanced flight and weapons training syllabuses, but could also be used for combat missions.
  The Orao was provisioned with standard communication and navigation equipment, the latter including a Honeywell-built SGP500 twin-gyroscope navigation system. It incorporated a fire control and weapons management system which used the Thomson-CSF-built VE-120T head-up display (HUD) (which had replacing the original Ferranti ISIS D-282 gyro-sight). In terms of defensive sensors and systems, it was equipped with an Iskra SO-1 radar warning receiver (RWR) and provision for up to three chaff/flare dispensers, as well as a P10-65-13 passive jammer pod. Further pods could be optionally fitted, including an optical/infrared reconnaissance pod or an optical reconnaissance/jammer pod.
  Various upgrade programmes for the J-22 had been proposed during the 1990s; reportedly, such efforts would have been focused upon the aircraft's avionics. However, such ambitions were heavily undermined by the dismantling of the Mostar factory during the Yugoslav Wars and the collapse of Romania's communist government. During the late 2010s, Serbia launched a major modernisation programme involving both its J-22 and NJ-22 fleets. Unofficially referred to as Orao 2.0, this work involved the installation of new navigation and targeting systems, including Safran's Sigma 95 inertial navigation system, a mission computer and multi-function displays, into the NJ-22's rear cockpit which, along with new weapons, is intended to make the type more effective in ground attack missions. A more comprehensive second phase is to achieve the "complete digitalisation" of the aircraft's cockpit.
caption: Side-on depiction of a J-22
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