Romania said goodbye on Monday (May 15th) to its Mig-21 LanceR fighter jets, inherited from the communist era, which are being replaced by more modern American F-16s in a context of strengthening NATO's eastern flank.
On the front line since the launch of the Russian offensive in neighboring Ukraine, Bucharest has redoubled its efforts in recent months to modernize its defense.
"It was time"
Romania will now use 17 second-hand F-16s purchased from Portugal. It also signed a contract with Norway in November for 32 aircraft. A member of NATO since 2004, it covets the latest generation of American F-35 fighters, but it will probably take years for this expensive project to become a reality.
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It was time for us to move on to something better, more in tune with global realities," pilot Adrian Trifa, 37, told AFP before taking off from the Borcea base for his last flight, on the occasion of one of the ceremonies organized Monday by the Minister of Defense. For this soldier who has 750 hours of flight time on the clock, it is a page that is turning. Especially since he will not be trained on the F-16: "I'm too old," he says. Apprenticeship is reserved for those under 35 years of age.
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The exact number of MiG-21 LanceR fighters Romania has is confidential. According to unofficial estimates, it has 25. In the communist era, it had about 400. The theft of these obsolete aircraft was temporarily suspended last year after "a considerable number of accidents" and technical problems. They then returned to duty for surveillance and pilot training missions. Thirty MiG-21s were destroyed in incidents between 1991 and 2022, according to the Defense Ministry.
They should have been withdrawn long ago but the decision was delayed for lack of money, said Stefan Danila, a retired general. "Ukraine has not shown interest," he said, stressing that the combat capacity of the remaining fighter jets is limited.