Romania Prepares to Modernize Its Fleet with $6.5 Billion F-35 Deal
Romania anticipates finalizing a government-to-government agreement with the United States to procure 5th generation F-35 fighter jets by this fall.
Romania is poised to sign a government-to-government agreement with the United States to purchase latest-generation F-35 fighter jets as early as this fall, the country’s Ministry of Defence Angel Tilvar said in a briefing on Jul. 16, 2024.
In September, Romania announced plans to buy 32 F-35s from Lockheed Martin for $6.5 billion. This deal would include logistics, training services, flight simulators, and weapons. Defence Minister Angel Tilvar stated that the first planes would not be delivered before 2030.
Acquisition plan
According to Defense Romania, the F-35 program is currently in the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) phase, with Romania awaiting the American response expected this fall. Following Washington’s response, more technical, financial, and chronological details will be known. In any case, the program will be the most expensive in Romania’s history.
By the time the first F-35A aircraft are delivered, the Romanian Air Force will operate three F-16 squadrons, at Câmpia Turzii and Fetesti Air Base.
Last year, Bucharest bought 32 second-hand F-16 Block 20 fighter jets from Norway, in a transaction worth 400 million USD, adding to the 17 F-16A/B Block 15 Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) fighters, acquired from Portugal in 2016 and delivered until 2021. The Romanian Air Force has, so far, received nine of the additional 32 aircraft; the plan calls for the entire batch to be delivered by the end of 2025.
In May, the US administration approved also the sale of up to 300 AIM-9X Sidewinder AAMs (Air-to-Air Missiles), 40 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Tactical Missile Guidance Units, 40 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Tactical Missile Guidance Units; 40 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); and 20 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II CATM Guidance Units to equip the F-16 fighter jets in a contract valued at 340.8 million USD.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO Ally that is an important force for political and economic stability in Europe,” said the DCSA (Defense Security Cooperation Agency). “The proposed sale will improve Romania’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing air-to-air missiles for its F-16 fleet in support of NATO’s defense mission. Romania will have no difficulty absorbing these weapons into its armed forces.”
In 2023, the Romanian Air Force retired, after 61 years of service, the iconic MiG-21 LanceR, the longest-lived fighter aircraft in the history of the service, flew its final flight mission at Boboc, in eastern Romania. In less than the years, the service might field a 5th generation aircraft.
1/ The end of active service – after a career spanning 61 years – for Romanian Air Force’s MiG-21s. Pics taken at Boboc Air Base, Romania, where the fighter jets received a water cannon salute. Credit: Fortele Aeriene Romane. @TheAviationist pic.twitter.com/znzpyG9wn9
— Aeronews (@AeronewsGlobal) May 13, 2023
As a NATO member since 2004, Romania shares a 650-km border with Ukraine and has experienced Russian drone fragments entering its territory amid Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian ports across the Danube River.
In June, Romania pledged to donate a Patriot system to Ukraine, part of a delivery of five such systems and other strategic air defence units promised by NATO states to aid Kyiv in its conflict with Russia.
