The Norwegian Military Supply Agency (Forsvarsmateriell) has announced an agreement with the Romanian Ministry of Defense to sell thirty-two used F-16AM / BM multi-role fighters. The contract value is EUR 388 million. According to the contract, all fighters will be subjected to the necessary maintenance and adapted to the Romanian configuration with the support of the United States.
– The agreement signed by Forsvarsmateriell will help strengthen the air force of one of our allies, while generating revenues for both Norwegian industry and the state – said Bjørn Arild Gram, Norwegian Minister of Defense.
Work on the aircraft will be carried out by the Norwegian industry. In addition to the fighters, Romanians acquired a spare parts package, tools and a training package. The pace of aircraft deliveries is even express – the first planes are to be delivered at the end of next year, while all deliveries will be made in 2024.
“By selling the F-16 fleet, we also worked to secure opportunities for Norwegian industry,” said Gro Jære, director of Forsvarsmateriell. – In this specific case, Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services has been selected as a strategic partner providing support, machine maintenance and training for Romanian technical personnel.
Norwegian Fighting Falcons were put up for sale in 2019. The Norwegian Ministry of Defense commissioned Forsvarsmateriell to sell the aircraft fleet after their decommissioning in the most favorable manner for the Kingdom of Norway. The fighters were withdrawn from service at the beginning of January this year.
Just in! Upgrades F-16 fighter jets for resale♻️
Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency (@FMateriell) has signed an agreement between #Norway and #Romania for the delivery of 32 Norwegian F-16 fighter jets. https://t.co/ZgAerYpzeY # F16 #Defence pic.twitter.com/DHmRcU0xQn– Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace (@KOGDefence) November 4, 2022
Currently, Romania has seventeen Portuguese F-16s, of which fourteen are in the single-seater F-16AM and three in the two-seater F-16BM. The first twelve fighters were acquired under a contract concluded in 2013. The planes were modernized by Lockheed to the MLU standard. The delivery of these machines was carried out in 2016-2017, and in 2019 Bucharest bought five fighters. The acquisition of more of these aircraft allowed for the formation of a full squadron. Like the previous ones, these were also upgraded to the MLU standard.
As emphasized by the Romanian media, not only the Pon-Norwegian planes will enter service faster than the Portuguese ones, but they are also more modern than the currently used F-16s. The Norwegian machines underwent a similar modernization process to the MLU standard, but they gained, among other things, the possibility of using newer AIM-120D AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, the latest varieties of Sidewinders and JDAM bombs. In addition to the new weapons, the planes are adapted to the harsh winter weather conditions in Norway. The delivered machines will be used for a minimum of a decade and will constitute a bridge solution to the acquisition of new fifth generation aircraft.
Romanian MiG-i-21.
(Airwolfhound, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)
The government in Bucharest has been trying to obtain machines from Norway since 2021. In December, the local parliament gave the green light to the defense ministry to start the purchasing procedure, while in June this year the ministry received permission to buy used aircraft. At that time, it was estimated that the value of the transaction will amount to EUR 454 million, of which 354 million is the price of the planes, and 100 million is the cost of logistic support and modernization, which is to be carried out with the help of Washington.
In addition to the F-16, Forțele Aeriene Române use sixteen obsolete MiG-21 LancerRs, which are among the oldest fighter jets in the NATO member states. The planes in the original version (mainly the MiG-21M and MiG-21MF) were delivered to Romania in the years 1969–1980. At the turn of the millennium, Romanian Fishbeds were modernized with the help of the Israeli companies Aerostar and Elbit. Fighter avionics were modernized and integrated with the French R.550 Magic air-to-air missiles.
However, this does not change the fact that these planes are heavily worn out and that accidents occur regularly. One LanceR crashed in March this year, the previous one in April 2021, and one was also lost in 2018 and 2017. In two of the four accidents, the pilots were killed. The LancerRs are expected to retire in mid-2023.
See also: Territorial Defense in Taiwanese
Alan Wilson, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
