The result was the S-49A, designed by Kosta Sivčev, Svetozar Popović and Slobodan Zrnić, on the basis of the pre-war Rogožarski IK-3.

After the Resolution of Informbiro in 1948 and the resulting breakup with the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia was forced to rely on its domestic military industry.

The same constructors that built the Rogozarski IK-3 (designers Ljubomir Ilic, Kosta Sivcev, Slobodan Zrnic) before the war, engineers Kosta Sivcev, Slobodan Zrnic and Svetozar K. Popovic, used existing technical documentation of the IK-3 to construct a new fighter aircraft, the Ikarus S-49.

Therefore, it was decided to produce a new version of the aircraft powered by the similar French Hispano-Suiza 12Z-17 engine.

In addition, under wing racks for two 50 kg bombs or four 127 mm HVAR missiles were provided.