Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR) (now IAR S.A. Brașov) or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a Romanian aerospace manufacturer. It is based in Ghimbav, near Brașov, Romania. IAR was founded in 1925 with the aid of the Romanian government, which sought to reduce reliance on foreign companies to supply the Royal Romanian Air Force with aircraft and associated equipment. In addition to its designs, the company built numerous foreign-designed aircraft under license as well. IAR produced a low-wing all-metal monoplane, the IAR 80, during the Second World War; this combat aircraft was extensively used by the nation during the conflict. During the Cold War era, the company branched out into helicopters, securing licensing agreements with France for their designs in the field, leading to the IAR 316 and IAR 330. In 2000, IAR partnered with the multinational helicopter manufacturer Eurocopter Group to create the Eurocopter Romania joint venture company. Presently, the company employs around 1,200 specialists including more than 170 engineers; it carries out upgrades, revisions, and overhauls on helicopters and light aircraft. History Origins and early years To ensure that the Royal Romanian Air Force (the Aeronautica Regală Română, or ARR) would be supplied with aircraft without reliance on foreign producers, the Romanian government subsidized the creation of three major aircraft manufacturers in the interbellum period. The first was Societatea pentru Exploatări Tehnice (SET) which was founded in Bucharest in 1923. Next came IAR, which was formed in Brașov since 1925. Finally there was Întreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice Românești (ICAR), which was created in Bucharest in 1932, and operated a factory in Brașov known as ICA-Brașov (Întreprinderea de Construcții Aeronautice - Brașov). One of the engineers designing IAR aircraft in the early 1930s was Elie Carafoli. During 1930, IAR's first original aircraft, the IAR CV 11, performed its maiden flight; it functioned as an experimental design only. One of its earliest aircraft to reach quantity production was the IAR 14, a trainer aircraft derived from the IAR 12 prototype. The IAR 27 was a more advanced trainer that was introduced in larger quantities during the late 1930s. In addition to pursuing its own designs, IAR also pursued work via the licensed production of foreign-developed aircraft. Poland's innovative PZL P.11 fighter captured the attention of Romanian officials, leading to a batch of 95 aircraft, referred to as the P.11f, being built by IAR starting in 1936. The Romanian Air Force