The Romanian government on Thursday approved a bill to buy 32 second-hand F-16 fighter jets from Norway, as well as logistics support and services, for an estimated 454 million euros ($473 million).
According to Reuters, the information would have been confirmed by the Romanian Defense Minister.
As we advanced at the end of 2021, Romania was looking to incorporate more F-16 fighter jets, from the surplus of other NATO member countries, to form two squadrons and to be able to finally replace its old MiG-21 LanceR.
See also: Romania suspends operation of it´s MiG-21 LanceR fighter jets
The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) currently has 17 F-16 A/B fighter aircraft purchased second-hand from Portugal between 2016 and 2021. These aircraft were at the time upgraded to MLU standard, M5.2R configuration, which gives it similar capabilities to the F-16s of blocks 50/52.
In contrast, the Norwegian F-16s are more capable because they have MLU modernization in the more advanced M6.5.2 configuration, which includes the ability to drop other more modern smart bombs (Laser JDAM) or AMRAAM-120D long-range air-to-air missiles.
Better the Norwegians
In addition to the fact that the Norwegian F-16 MLUs are upgraded to a more advanced configuration, another key point that tipped the balance in their favor is that they are in an excellent state of maintenance.
The Director General of the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency, Mette Sørfonden, commented some time ago that: “They are one of the best maintained fighter aircraft in the world and, in general, they are in an excellent technical condition…”.
That was also an aspect that influenced the decision by Draken, the private aggressor training company, to acquire a dozen of these fighters for U.S. service, following the purchase of another 12 decommissioned F-16 MLUs by the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
See also: More F-16 for Draken, now from Norway
F-16s for 10 years, and then the technological leap
In the words of the Romanian Defense Minister, the MiG-21 LanceRs will continue to fly until 2023, when they will finally be replaced by the “new” F-16 MLUs, which have a planned 10-year operational life within the Romanian Air Force (Forţele Aeriene Române).
Halfway through the F-16’s decade of service, and as part of an ambitious overall rearmament plan, Romania plans to make the technological leap to the fifth generation of fighters and purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightining II.
