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PZL TS-11 Iskra

1964 COLD WAR

PZL TS-11 History of Mars

Soviet communism completed its takeover of Poland in 1945, creating a decades-long alliance between the two countries. Poland was a participant in the Warsaw Pact (1955-1991), a treaty organized by the East against the NATO military alliance in the West, for which Poland managed an active stockpile of local and Soviet aircraft designs. The PZL TS-11 "Iskra" was one of the former, designed and developed by PZL-Mielec and later used by hundreds as a two-seat, single-engine jet trainer.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) also took stock of it. As of this writing, Polish aircraft are still (albeit limited) in service with the Poles.

The TS-11 grew out of the Polish Air Force's need for a state-of-the-art jet trainer. From this initiative, work began in 1957, under the command of Tadeusz Soltyk - as a result the aircraft received his initials.

The TS-11 was the historic first aircraft for the Polish nation, becoming their first locally designed, developed and produced jet.

Beginning in 1966, the series was revised to the WSK SO-1 engine with 2,200 pounds of thrust, and was replaced by the SO-3 series engine in 1969. The SO-3 was a significant improvement over the original SO-1, which lasted about 100 hours before requiring an overhaul (SO-3 increased this to 400 hours). The SO-3W22 is the ultimate incarnation of this engine, delivering 2,425 pounds of thrust.

This particular engine shape ultimately powered the TS-11. In 1969, the series was taken over by the Polish acrobatic team "Wei?-Rote Sparka".

In 1971, the Iskra-bis C was introduced as a single-seat reconnaissance platform with a body-mounted camera. The range also adds additional internal fuel storage. However, it wasn't until 1972 that five examples of the type were built, eventually returning as coaches starting in 1983.

Also in 1972, the Iskra BR200 single-seat attack/reconnaissance prototype appeared, although this design was not used in mass production.

The Iskra-bis D retains the two-seat layout with an increased maximum take-off weight (MTOW) value and was introduced in 1973. 50 stockpiles were sent to the Indian Air Force.

The Iskra-bis DF is a two-seat training/reconnaissance model that came out in 1974 - it was equipped with proper camera equipment, but was fully combat capable. The Iskra R became a two-seater naval reconnaissance aircraft equipped with the RDS-81 radar, with six airframes converted from existing production aircraft that entered service in 1991. In 1998, the Iskra MR was equipped with a modern cockpit to accommodate UN operations. The TS-11F evolved into an improved trainer to meet the training of the F-16 C/D model Block 52+.

The post-military version was stripped of its military value for sale on the civilian market.

The TS-11 series cannot be sold to other Warsaw Pact members, with Poland being the only operator. 424 were built by 1987, of which 76 were shipped to India in two batches (50 and 26). The Hyundai PZL "I-22" will inherit the TS-011 line, but several issues have limited the program to 17 aircraft before the program is completely canceled.

The TS-11 was also temporarily used by the Polish Navy.

Today, the Polish Air Force has a small fleet of active TS-11 aircraft.