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A request for three new helicopters was
issued xxx. Elbit Systems & IAR Brasov being
contracted in July 2005 with cooperation
of FHL Claverham, Aerazur, Rockwell Collins,
Breeze Eastern and Rafael Company from
Israel. The first IAR.330 Puma Naval (#140)
made its first flight at Ghimbav, Brasov on
30 January 2007. The IAR.330 Puma Naval
underwent testing from February until June
2007, including sea tr ials and ship
compatibility tests.
On 13 July 2007 the ‘Black Sea Knights’
squadron was formally re-established
after forty-seven years of absence with
the introduction into service of the
first IAR.330 Puma Naval (#140)
assigned to the Type 22 Frigate
“Regele Ferdinand”. By the
end of 2007, each of the
e i gh t Nav a l
Aviation
p i l o t s
logged a total of 25 ight hours. The second
IAR.330 Puma Naval (# 141) was delivered
during January 2008. After delivery of the
third IAR . 330 Puma Naval (‘142’ ) the
squadron relocated end 2009 to Tuzla. “
Initial tasks were mainly day operations to
get to learn operating the Puma Naval and
get used to seaborne operations” according
to Lt. Cmdr. Bogdan Curca. “ The next phase
we star ted to train and explore the
capabilities of the tactical consoles onboard,
lastly in the per iod 2009-2010 night
operations were high on our agenda in the
training syllabus to be able to operate 24/7
when required”. Currently not all pilots have
been qualified for night operations.
The main modifications to the Puma
Naval compared to the standard IAR.330L
variant are: cockpit layout, Rafael Toplite
eletro-optical ball senor in the nose (EOP),
laser and radar warning receivers, blade
antennas under the tail boom and on
top of the main rotor fairing, chaff and
flare dispensers under the main gear.
These modif ications can also be
found in the IAR.330 SOCAT fleet of
the Romanian Air Force (FAR). For
naval operations a number of
changes were made to the basic
IAR.330L airframe: foldable
ma i n r o t o r b l a d e s ,
inflatable flotation gear,
door-mounted winch on
the starboard side, anti-
crash seats, harpoon for deck
landing in rough weather
condi tions , crash posi tion
indicator on the port side of the
tail boom, two searchlights under the
fuselage and a bubble-type observation
window on the sliding doors. “We basically
added what devices we require for naval
operations to the standard IAR . 330L
airframe” adds squadron commander Marius
Mitric.
At the time of the Authors visit exercises
were conducted with the DDG-78 USS Porter
to share experiences and procedures
operating in a multi-national environment.
This also included deck landings of an
IAR.330 at the USS Porter. Till date the FNR
have been involved in Unified Protector
(2011) and Operation Atalanta (2012) as part
of European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR).
The latter deployment included an IAR.330,
4 pilots and 12 technicians/engineers.
“Before we deployed we had a Maritime
Interdiction training to prepare ourselves
for the anti-piracy mission” according to
Commander Ciobotaru. He continues “We
mainly conducted ISR missions of the Somali
coast working with multi-national MPAs
with usage of digital cameras. On average
two missions a day were flown during the
deployment of three months” he concludes.
Operations with the Puma Naval typically
consists of a pilot, copilot and a mechanic,
who is also operating the winch in case of
SAR missions. “For ASuW missions two
operators are added to the crew who are
responsible for operating the sonar buoys
and datalink 11 which is used to exchange
large amounts of data between helicopter
and the ASuW operators onboard our
Frigates . The tactical consoles can be added
rapidly and can deliver a valuable Recognized
Maritime Picture (RMP) to our fleet” explains
Black Sea Knight Commander Mitric.
In December 2005 ten selected naval
officers started their initial flight training at
the Air Force Academy at Boboc on the
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