What fighter plane do you think Romania should use?

Here is the same article in english from defense news.com


Romania To Purchase Secondhand F-16s
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 23 Mar 2010 17:46 Print | Email
BUCHAREST, Romania - Romania will purchase 24 secondhand F-16 fighter jets in an effort to revamp its Air Force, the country's Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) announced March 23.

"Since Romania does not have the necessary resources to buy new multirole combat aircraft, the CSAT has approved the defense ministry's proposal to purchase 24 secondhand F-16 jets," the Council said in a news release at the end of a meeting headed by President Traian Basescu. "The decision will be submitted to Parliament for approval."

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The Lockheed Martin-made jets will replace the aging, Soviet-made MiG-21 Lancer aircraft now used by the Romanian Air Force.

No details on the cost of the purchase were immediately available.

Romania has long mulled the purchase of fighter planes but has delayed the decision because of a lack of funds.

In 2008, the defense ministry had argued that buying secondhand F-16 jets would enable Romania's armed forces to enjoy greater inter-operability with other NATO states.

At the time, military sources had said the secondhand jets would cost a total of $800 million, while purchasing 24 new ones could cost $3.5 billion.

Apart from the F-16, Romania was also considering purchasing Swedish-made Gripen jets (Saab), Eurofighters (EADS, BAE Systems and Alenia/Finmeccanica) and French-made Rafales (Dassault).

It seems they might be block 25.

http://www.agenda.ro/news/news/28939/csat-...ne-tip-f16.html

US arms transfers are subject to congres aprovall.

http://www.dsca.osd.mil/PressReleases/36-b...mania_08-55.pdf

It turns out that thhe planes are free, but Romania will have to pay around 1 billion $ to be able to use them

Avioanele F-16 vor fi livrate gratuit, dar presupun costuri de 900 mil. - 1,2 mld. dolari pentru antrenamente, mentenanta si upgrade

The variant will be block 15 (according to Ziua Veche) or block 25 (acording to HotNews). In any way, they will be quite old.

Another theory in the news is that this deal is a way for Romania to enter into the F-35 program.

F 35 ? Cmmon,it will never hapen,the money will be spent on mici ,bere,mertzane,tzatze de plastic ,sporuri fanteziste,everything but national defence.But we'll have lots and lots of generals with breasts full of zdranguletki and with military knoledge of Mos Teaca.
Sorry mr.Teaca !

Quina, you are such a pesimist one!

... an opinion more avid about the F-16 arms deal with the United States:
http://www.money.ro/intern-1/niels-schneck...rd-de-euro.html
However, my opinion is that this planes do not increase the defense ability of our country in case of a war!
Maybe the next arms deal will be the upgrade of the tank fleet of our army, with new tanks like M48 Patton or perhaps the more modern M60, if we have luck!

last week the F35 price was upped again and is now around 114 million $ apiece, iirc.
therefore the exact date when RoAF will purchase this aircraft is "cand o face plopu' pere".

Will this topic will finaly end?
I don't remember even what was my choice.....

Romania to replace MIGs with used F-16 aircrafts
25.03.10 | by: Sonia Simion | in: homenews
Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) on Tuesday adopted MApN’s proposed acquisition of 24 used F-16 aircrafts. The document will be submitted to Parliament vote.
CSAT on Tuesday adopted the proposal of the Ministry of Defence for the procurement of a total of 24 used F-16 jet fighter aircraft. The new fighters will be replacing the Amy’s existing MIG aircraft.

During the CSAT meeting, Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea briefed the participants on the Air Force Multirole Aircraft Programme. ‘Given the fact that Romania does not have the financial resources to acquire new multimode aircraft, CSAT approved MApN’s proposal to procure a total of 24 used F-16 jet fighter aircraft; the proposal will be sent to Parliament approval. In his presentation, the minister mentioned the implications of the fact that the MIG-21 Lancer the Romanian Air Force is currently equipped with are to be disused in the following years’, reads the Presidential Administration’s release.

Oprea also presented the concept of command and control of the Romanian Amy force structures, document that was also adopted by CSAT. The concept allows for a more effective information and decision-making flow, the release further explains.

According to the document, Minister Oprea also informed CSAT on the state of the Defence Ministry’s equipment and the situation with the supplies of ammunitions. The document also addressed the ammunitions needed in the following years and the need to make up for delays in the time-table for destroying disused ammunition stocks.

‘The Ministry of Defence presented the plan for preparation and operational planning of additional Romanian troops to be deployed to the theatre of operations in Afghanistan in 2010, with necessary financing to be allocated from the Government’s contingency fund’, the press release further notes.

Scutaru: CSAT decision – overdue, fleet expires in 2013

The Deputy Chairman of the Defence Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, George Scutaru, on Tuesday said CSAT’s decision on the procurement of the used F16 aircraft should have been made long before, as the service life of the Romanian fighter aircraft feet expires in 2013.

According to Mediafax, the PNL deputy stressed the fact that ‘the Government and the defence Ministry must provide the Parliament and the Defence Committees especially all the information on the procurement of the F-16 fighters – revamping, pilot training and airport infrastructure upgrading costs, as well as the allocations for the armament required by the new jet fighters’. He further stated that, in his opinion, the F-16 was the step to ‘Romania’s participation in the 5th generation F-35 aircraft’.

PSD Deputy Georgian Pop, a member of the Chamber Defence Committee, said that, from a cost point of view, CSAT’s decision to buy the used F-16 planes might turn out to be the least costly for the Romanian state budget. Georgian Pop added Romania had to buy other fighters as the service life of the current MIG-21 Lancer would soon expire. He also pointed out that Romania’s joining the F-16 programme would be making it eligible for the F-35 programme, believed to be the best-performing multirole jet fighter aircraft.

Stratfor analyst: F-16 planes, strategic Romanian strategic choice

Romania is a country with potential for closer relations with the US and the F-16 jet fighters are a logical choice as they are a pillar of the NATO air force and already have robust support and supply network in Europe, STRATFOR military analyst Nathan Hughes states. According to Mediafax, the analyst says that the F-16 is a logical choice in Romania’s case, as the country has no 4th generation aircraft.

The 5th generation F-35 fighter aircraft development programme has been delayed and already exceeded allocated budget, with latest estimations suggesting unit price may be as high as USD 100 M.

Hughes added that Rafale, Grippen and Eurofighter were all new models, therefore they were unavailable as used ones. ‘The first criterion could have been the price. Used F-16 aircraft is both affordable and (…) a common choice of NATO member states. In short, there are enough pragmatic reasons to choose the F-16’, he added.

US government hails CSAT decision to buy F16 aircraft

The US government hails the CSAT decision to recommend to Parliament the purchase of the F16 aircraft, the US Embassy in Bucharest said in a release issued to Mediafax news agency.

"The final approval of purchasing F16 aircraft is a decision that must be made by Romanian authorities and we are waiting for Parliament to consider the F16 program," reads the release.

Second-hand F16 airplanes due to equip the Romanian Air Force will come at a price between USD 900 M and 1.2 bln, as established during talks between Defence Ministry and US officials, sources close to the negotiations said.


Courtesy of Nine O' Clock News

Yeah,Andreas,you are right.And I know in Rome a lot of roman balistas in quite good shape.......

The correct word is "balistra".
Being flippant and facetious actually dilutes your argument. The F-16 is still a modern fighter. There must be a good reason why they are used by so many air forces. Finally, we are in line with so many of them.
This is a good deal.
Radu

It seems like we are Block 25, here are some details!


Romania has finally opted for a mix of used and new F-16s to replace its MiG-21 Lancer fighters, and hopes to eventually move up to the F-35 JSF. (Romanian MoD photo)National Defense Minister Gabriel Oprea presented, during the meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) held on March 23, 2010, a statement on the Multirole Aircraft Program of the Romanian Air Force.

Given that Romania does not have the financial resources necessary for the acquisition of new multirole aircraft, CSAT has approved the Defence Ministry’s proposal to acquire 24 used F-16 aircraft. The proposal will be submitted for discussion and approval by the Romanian Parliament. The proposal to purchase F-16 aircraft was made by the Romanian Air Force’s General Staff, and is based on an in-depth analysis of the missions which the aircraft is required to carry out, and on the long-term strategy to integrate the fighter aircraft into this category of forces.

Minister Gabriel Oprea also presented CSAT members with information regarding the implications of the retirement, in coming years, of the MiG-21 LanceR fighter aircraft which currently equip the Romanian Air Force.

The implementation of the Multirole Aircraft Program is part of the strategic partnership between Romania and the United States of America, and the option to purchase F-16 aircraft is part of the Air Force Staff’s strategy of gradually developing operational capabilities, with the ultimate goal of acquiring the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

In this respect, the strategy set out the following steps:
- An initial stage involving the acquisition of 24 used F-16 Block 25 aircraft;
- An intermediate stage involving the acquisition of an additional 24, new-build F-16 aircraft of the Block 50-52 version;
--A final phase involving the service introduction of 24 F-35 JSF aircraft, which will replace the first batch of F-16 aircraft originally purchased.

The F-16 is a multirole aircraft capable of performing missions for the defense of airspace, strike missions against land and sea targets in all weather conditions, by day and night, and reconnaissance missions.

Its equipment configuration meets Romania's defense needs and allows the commitments undertaken within NATO. The F-16 is a tactical aircraft whose performance has been tested in combat, and has successfully carried out missions during operations in Iraq, the Western Balkans and Afghanistan. All these technical features and performance at the highest level meet the initial operational requirements of the Romanian Air Force.

The purchase of used F-16 aircraft will be subject to an agreement between the governments of Romania and the United States. Project value is approximately US $ 1.3 billion, broken down as follows: 24 refurbished, updated and fully equipped aircraft; technical assistance for a period of 3-5 years; and a logistic support package including flight simulators, training, transport, adaptation of ground infrastructure, ammunition, weapons and administrative costs.

Personnel training will be carried out in the United States to U.S. Air Force standards, to achieve the required operational level and the full implementation of this system’s capabilities.

The aircraft to be purchased by Romania are in service with the US Air Force, and have a remaining lifetime estimated at 10 to 15 years since (2500 to 3500 flight hours per aircraft.)

The first aircraft will arrive in Romania in 2013.

Courtesy of Defense-Aerospace.com

I know,I know,Radu,its simply "haz de necaz" !

Compare this:

http://www.mapn.ro/cpresa/13361_COMUNICAT-DE-PRESĂ

To this:

http://poland.usembassy.gov/poland/f16.html

We're a country led by second-hand leaders.

This post has been edited by Imperialist on March 25, 2010 07:44 pm