ROMANIA TO BUY N R
omania cannot afford to buy the state-of-the-art 5th generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Instead, 32 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft will be bought second-hand from Norway, Romanian defense minister Vasile Dîncu unveiled in an interview given to Romanian TV channel Digi24 on 10 December. "The planes that Romania would purchase will be tasked to monitor the airspace of NATO's eastern flank", Dîncu explained. He added that Norwegian F-16s have a remaining service life of about 2,500 flight hours each, allowing them to stay in operational use with the Romanian Air Force (RoAF, Forțele Aeriene Române) for a period of ten years. "There will also be a process of refurbishment and modernizing of these jets as it is absolutely necessary to have planes and a much larger fleet that would be in line with the strategic position that Romania has in NATO", Dîncu said. Dîncu's interview came a day after Romanian Ministry of National Defense (MoND) requested the Romanian parliament to approve the acquisition of 32 F-16s from Norway at a cost of € 354 million. The document, as quoted by local media, also states that an additional € 100 million would be needed for securing logistical support and acquisition of specific equipment from the US government. "The only solution currently identified as a result of the analysis of the responses to the Requests for Information is the purchase from the Norwegian Government of a package of 32 F-16 aircraft in the M6.5.2 configuration (superior to the configuration of the 17 possessed [F-16] aircraft), logistical support equipment and training services", the MoND document reads. The decision to begin the process of the acquisition of Norwegian jets has been made by MoND's Defense Planning Council that took in consideration the technical compatibility of the Royal Norwegian Air
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Force (RoNAF) surplus jets with the already existing Romanian F-16 fleet, the economical advantages of the Oslo-proposed package, the possibility of modernizing those planes, and the possibility to acquire logistical support and specific equipment needed to modernize the aircraft from the U.S. Government.
