Romania’s Supreme National Defense Council (CSAT) at a meeting on April 11 approved a plan to acquire US F-35 Lightning II fighters to modernize the country’s air force. Bucharest’s move signals it will become Washington’s next ally in Eastern Europe to operate these fifth-generation aircraft, Defense News writes.
A statement from the office of Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who chairs CSAT, said these fighters should seriously boost the capabilities of the Romanian Air Force.
The Air Force modernization process will continue with the purchase of the latest generation F-35 aircraft. These planes… make it possible to achieve and maintain air superiority, a sine qua non for ensuring sovereignty in national airspace and, if necessary, defending it
- says the official statement.
At the same time, the number of fighters purchased and the total cost of the purchase were not disclosed. The Romanian Air Force currently operates 17 second-hand F-16s purchased from Portugal. In 2022, the Romanian government signed a contract to purchase 32 additional used F-16s from Norway.
Thus, Romania joins a growing group of NATO partners who have set their sights on the aforementioned high-tech products from the American company Lockheed Martin. In July 2022, the Czech government entered into negotiations with the United States for the purchase of 24 F-35s. In January 2020, Warsaw reached an agreement for the purchase of 32 F-35s, as well as a training and logistics program for the Polish Air Force. for 4.6 billion dollars, summarize the media.
We remind you that in December 2021, Finland, which recently joined NATO, announced the purchase of 64 F-35A multi-role fighters from Lockheed Martin for 8.4 billion euros to replace 62 F /A-18 Hornets. In addition, “neutral” Switzerland acquired in 2022 36 of Lockheed Martin’s latest 5th generation combat aircraft for around 6 billion Swiss francs to replace the obsolete F/A – 18 Hornet and F – 5.
Photos used: picryl.com
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