The aircraft would come from Norway, which is replacing its current fleet of F-16 with F-35 Lightning IIs. Draken recently took delivery of a dozen of these fighters, and Romania intends to acquire the remainder.
According to the Romanian media Digi24, of the 454 million euros (USS 514 million approx.) that the operation would cost, 354 are for the purchase of the F-16s and 100 million are for the logistics support package and modernization work.
The Ministry of Defense stated that it had discussed with several NATO member states about the possible acquisition of F-16 aircraft, such as: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal or Greece. In the end, the only solution identified by the MoD was to purchase Norwegian aircraft.
Old but better
Currently, 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 at the time upgraded to MLU standard, M5.2R configuration, which gives it similar capabilities to the F-16s of the 50/52 blocks.
In contrast, and despite having 40 years of service on their shoulders, the Norwegian F-16s are more capable because they have the MLU modernization but in the more advanced M6.5.2 configuration, which includes the ability to launch other more modern smart bombs (Laser-JDAM) or AMRAAM-120D long-range air-to-air long-range missiles.
There are also 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 F-16MLU fleet for another 10, with good guarantees of safety and combat capabilities.
Norwegian F-16s, an opportunity not to be missed
As mentioned before, the Norwegian F-16 MLUs are modernized to a very advanced configuration, but they are also in an excellent state of maintenance.
In this regard, the Director General of the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency, Mette Sørfonden commented a few days ago: «It is one of the best maintained fighter aircraft in the world and, in general, they are in an excellent technical condition…».Norway is making the transition to the F-35, so the MoD is keen to sell its F-16s to allies (Draken USA) and NATO member countries (Romania), because it knows they are very well maintained aircraft and for the right price, an irresistible bargain.
