Romania to send inspection team for possible Dutch F-16 buy.

[Stratofreighter]

http://actmedia.eu/daily/romania-could- ... ands/40268

Romania could procure second hand F-16 from Portugal or the Netherlands

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Minister of Defense Corneliu Dobritoiu told Agerpres, after a meeting with the reserve military that a team of specialists will go to the Netherlands and Portugal to assess the technical condition of some F-16 type aircraft that Romania might procure for the Army.

'We will assess the jets, to see if they are technically up to our requirements, their upgrading needs, the cost and if we can afford them, or not. The assessments are made in Portugal and the Netherlands', Dobritoiu said.

He admitted that Romania could buy F-16s from the Portuguese or the Dutch, arguing that Romania's strategic goal should be getting the fifth generation jets 'at minimal costs''.

'Anyway we do not have money to transition to new jets.
And then this decision would have an effect on a time interval of 40 to 50, even 55 years because for a new fifth generation jet the life cycle is up to 35-40 years', explained the Minister of Defense.

Initially, Romania announced its intention to procure 'second hand' F-16 from the U.S. Air Force, but now it considers the procurement of the same type of aircraft, but from other countries.

'Anything is possible. All options remain open. We seek the most beneficial option in terms of price-quality ratio for a fifth generation jet', the Minister of Defense added.

At the same time, the head of state recalled, on December 16, in the meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT), that in 2015 the combat aircraft of the Romanian Army exhaust their resource and the procurement of a number of 48 jets is needed, set to cover Romania's contribution to NATO, but also for own territory defense.

[SquAdmin]

Portugal intends to sell F-16's? They only have like 45!

[p_shadow]

Portugal intends to sell F-16's? They only have like 45!

Forty five's actually the total number of airframes delivered. From these 40 MLU conversions are ongoing, the last ones should be delivered early next year.

Some 4/5 years ago the government decided to put ten aircraft up for sale, together with a number of C-212s, SA330s, M60 tanks and 2 frigates (these 2 sold to Uruguay). Apart the F-16s and 2 of the CASA's, all the rest is very old stuff as you can imagine!

Regarding F-16s for sale.... their serial numbers were published in an official decree, even though some were/are not already MLUed. Others are flying daily! (The last OCU flew last year).
Also, i believe a bulgarian delegation also visited/will visit Monte Real AB soon and there's also rumours about pakistani interest in these planes...


Abraços!

[Stratofreighter]

http://actmedia.eu/daily/defense-minist ... anes/40426

ROMANIA: Defense minister: We might extend operational period for MIG planes
Friday, June 8, 2012

Defense minister Corneliu Dobritoiu says in case Romania does not have money to purchase a multirole plane it could extend the period of use for MIG planes it already has.
He declared at a press conference on Thursday that it was “the last variant, the last option, the last resistance”, Agerpres writes.

“If we do not find solutions to buy a multirole plane then we will have to extend the operation period for the MIG fleet until 2018,”
the defense minister said.
According to him the planes are already outdated.

“This deadline is forced for planes which were designed to operate for 25 years and we extended its life to 40 years.
The only solution is to intelligently use the resources we have in order to identify incomes to satisfy our equipping needs,” Dobritoiu mentioned.

[Stratofreighter]

Romania has opted for Portugal it seems...

http://actmedia.eu/daily/romania-could- ... ugal/41672

Romania could purchase F-16 fighter jets from Portugal Thursday, August 23, 2012

National Defence Minister Corneliu Dobritoiu told Agerpres on Wednesday Romania could purchase F-16 fighter jets from Portugal,
with the aircraft being in ‘very good' condition, according to the expert team who examined the technical condition of the multi-purpose jets.

'There are nine Romanian experts who went to Portugal, who got expertise from the Americans.
The conclusions of the team were beyond expectations, meaning the fighter jets are in very good condition, very good technical condition and would represent a 'last cartridge' for Romania.

Otherwise, we will remain without fighter aviation in nine years, because the MIG jet fighters, after 40 years of missions, will remain on ground.

We are in an accelerated process for obtaining all the approvals.
I think this is the last chance', Dobritoiu stressed.

The minister explained the alternative of purchasing F-16 jets from the Netherlands no longer stands, since 'the Dutch have sold the products they had in excess'.

'The budget impact is not likely to be big, given the payments to be annually made will affect the public debt at a rate of 0.03 percent or no more than 0.04 percent.

It rests with this country's strategic political leadership to get back the Romanian defence aviation to the level of aspirations and to the historic credibility it had.

Otherwise, military aviation will turn into transport aviation and somebody must take such tragedy upon themselves', he added.

The multi-purpose aircraft programme ‘is more than acceptable',
Dobritoiu stressed, since the final amount for purchasing the fighter jets can be negotiated with the Portuguese partner.

'The total cost of the multi-purpose aircraft programme, training and all, is more than acceptable.

F-16 aircraft has flight resources for another 20 years, if we were so generous as to ensure training of at least 200 hours' flight on this jet every year.

We do not provide such number of hours on the MIGs due to the tiny budget', the minister explained.