The Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency (NDMA) has signed a contract with Romania for the sale of 32 Norwegian F-16MLU aircraft for 388 million euros.

As reported by the Norwegian government, in addition to the aircraft, the contract includes ground support equipment, spare parts, maintenance services, aircraft modification and technical training.

As we had announced at the last year’ s end, Romania was looking to increase its fleet of F-16 fighters, in order to retire as soon as possible its aging MiG-21 LanceR; whose operational safety had fallen to dangerous levels, having grounded the fleet on several occasions, the last one after the fatal accident in April.

See also: Romania suspends operation of it´s MiG-21 LanceR fighter jets

Looking for alternatives, the Romanian Ministry of Defense searched among future surplus F-16s from NATO allied countries, such as Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal or Greece. In the end, the solution identified as the most convenient was to acquire the Norwegian aircraft.

More advanced and better maintained

The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) has 17 F-16 A/B fighter aircraft purchased second-hand from Portugal between 2016 and 2021. These aircraft were upgraded to MLU standard, in M5.2R configuration, which gives it similar capabilities to the F-16 Block 50/52.

But the Norwegian F-16MLU are more capable because they were upgraded to the more advanced M6.5.2 configuration, which includes the ability to launch other more modern smart bombs (Laser JDAM) or the AIM-120D AMRAAM long-range air-to-air missiles.

Another key point that tipped the scales 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: «This is one of the best maintained fighter aircraft in the world and, in general, they are in an excellent technical condition…».

See also: More F-16 for Draken, now from Norway

A 10-year stopgap, and then the fifth generation.

With the signing of the contract with Norway, the Romanian Air Force (Forţele Aeriene Române) will finally be able to replace its MiG-21 fleet and standardize its fighter lineup on a single model.

There are even plans to upgrade the entire Romanian F-16 to the M6XR configuration, which would affect the avionics, software, sensors and delivery capability of the most modern guided weapons in existence. In this way, the RoAF thinks it can continue to operate its fleet of F-16MLUs, standardized to the same configuration.

But Romanian Defense plans are more ambitious, and the addition of these «new» F-16s is only a temporary measure. In the next decade, the Romanian Air Force will make the technological leap and join the club of operators of the Lockheed Martin F-35, the fifth-generation fighter that is becoming the de facto European standard fighter.