Romania secures US defence ties with F-16 purchase
Romania will buy 24 second-hand American F-16 aircraft, which sees the country consolidating strong military ties with the US, following the announcement in February that Romania will hold a missile defence shield on its land by 2015
April 2010 - From the Print Edition
Romania’s Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) adopted the view of the Ministry of Defence to acquire the fighters, produced by US defence group Lockheed Martin, to replace the Air Force’s outdated Russian MiG-21 Lancer aircraft.
Romania needed to buy a new air defence force as a condition of joining NATO in 2004, but the country has not the money to buy new multi-modal fighter planes.
Governments usually purchase used military equipment for free and the benefit to a firm such as Lockheed Martin would be the maintenance costs and the fee for the jets’ modernisation.
The purchase of the used F16 fighter jets is estimated to include a one billion Euro revamping deal. This is much lower than the 4.5 billion Euro which the Romanian authorities were willing to pay three years ago to purchase 48 new fighter planes.
Sweden’s Saab-manufactured JAS 39 Gripen, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, France’s Dassault Rafale and the Italian-British-German-French Eurofighter Typhoon were also in the race for Romania’s military purchase.
The F-16 has proven a success on the export market and has been selected to serve in the air forces of 25 nations. “The F-16 is an exceptional plane, well-tested, most allies have it - but it is old,” says political analyst George Anglitoiu.
The CSAT decision to buy the used planes is subject to Parliamentary approval.