Budgetary woes cast doubt on Romanian fighter procurement plans
11/8/2012
Budgetary constraints in Romania make it unlikely
that the country's air force will be able to field the number of fighters it needs to fulfil its obligations to NATO once the current MiG-21 fleet is retired from 2017,
a senior service official said on 7 November.
Speaking at the IQPC International Fighter Conference in London, Major General Victor Strimbeanu, Chief of Training and Doctrine for the Romanian Air Force (RoAF),
said that the RoAF has a desire to replace its current MiG-21 Lancer (upgraded 'Fishbed') platforms with 78 current-generation fighters,
but that the lack of funds means this number will not likely be achieved, seriously undermining the country's air defence capability.
"We would like 78 aircraft, but 54 is the minimum that we require, and 48 is the number we can currently afford," he said.
With its Israeli-upgraded Lancer fighters set to be retired from 2017,
the RoAF is looking to Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon platforms.
These surplus aircraft will bridge the gap between the retirement of the Lancer and an eventual Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) buy in about 2025.
BUCHAREST, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Romania will operate in 2017 a 12-strong squadron of F-16 multirole fighters purchased from Portugal, to replace the current Soviet-built MIG-21 Lancers, the country's Defence Minister Mircea Dusa said on Monday.
Dusa paid last week an official visit to Portugal and discussed the possible acquisition with his counterpart Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
"By the end of May, we will probably finalize documents with the Portuguese party and subsequently, until September - with the American party,
so that we resume the multirole aircraft equipping program at the scale of a squadron, i.e. 12 planes,"
said the official, specifying that "we will also tackle the amounts to be paid," when negotiations will have been completed.
Dusa's predecessor Corneliu Dobritoiu announced last autumn that Romania will pay around 670 million euros over five years for these fighter jets.
"Only about 120 million euros go to paying for the aircraft, the rest being logistic support, which would have been the same if we had purchased new aircraft," he explained.
Romania and Portugal have a deadline this June to complete negotiations,
Dusa said that the package included everything necessary for the operation of the planes:
the training of the pilots, maintenance, upgrading and everything else.
The Romanian Air Force operates some 48 MiG-21 Lancer jet fighters which, after 40 years of missions, are towards the end of their flight resources.
Though the fighter jets from Portugal are already 30-years-old, they can be used for at least 20 more years, according to experts.
Romania's neighbour Bulgaria had also expressed interest in nine used F-16s from Portugal.
The aircraft package includes nine upgraded Portuguese Air Force F-16MLU aircraft, and three former US Air Force aircraft supplied to Portugal for the resale under the US Excess Defense Article program.
The contract also includes modifications and upgrades to the aircraft (nine single- and three two-seaters); additional engines; logistics support; and the training of 9 Romanian pilots and 69 maintenance technicians.
The F-16s should to be airworthy for at least the next 20 years (4,000-4,500 flight hours).
WASHINGTON, Nov 8, 2013 – The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Romania of weapons, equipment, and support for 12 F-16 MLU Block 15 for an estimated cost of $457 million.
The Government of Romania has requested a possible sale of weapons, equipment, and support for 12 F-16 MLU Block 15 aircraft that will be procured through a third party transfer from Portugal. Articles and services will include:
13 Embedded Global Positioning Systems/Inertial Navigation Systems (EGPS/INS) with GPS Security Devices, Airborne
3 AN/ALQ-131 Electronic Countermeasure Pods
30 AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM)
5 AIM-120C Captive Air Training Missiles (CATMs)
60 AIM-9M Sidewinder Missiles
4 AIM-9M CATMs
48 LAU-129 Launchers
10 GBU-12 Enhanced Guided Bomb Units
18 AGM-65H/KB Maverick Missiles
4 AGM-65 CATMs
15 Multifunctional Information Distribution System/Low Volume Terminals
2 Multifunctional Information Distribution System Ground Support Systems
Also included
are spare and repair parts, support equipment, tanker support, ferry services, repair and return services, software development/integration, test and equipment, supply support, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical data, U.S. Government and contractor technical services, and other related elements of logistics and program support.
The estimated cost is $457 million.
The proposed sale will support the Romanian Air Force’s (RoAF) efforts to equip and utilize the 12 F-16 aircraft it is procuring from Portugal.
These aircraft will provide the RoAF with a fleet of modernized multi-role combat aircraft.
This proposed sale of weapons, equipment, and follow-on F-16 support will enable Romania to support both its own air defense needs and coalition operations.
The RoAF will have no difficultly absorbing these systems into its armed forces.
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