Romania

Introduction

A total of 17 airframes (14 A-models and 3 B-models) were acquired second-hand from Portugal in 2016 and 2020.

Inventory

Peace Carpathian I

At the end of 2005 rumors were spread out that Romania was in negotiations with Israel to acquire a batch of second-hand F-16A/B's. With the introduction of the F-16I in the IDFAF these aircraft are coming available on the market. The aircraft would receive an extensive upgrade (even including the so-called ACE upgrade) and overhaul in Israel with cooperation of a Romanian aircraft factory. In 2006 it was also reported that Romania has asked for the possibility of acquiring a batch of second-hand Belgian F-16s. In May of 2008 the Pentagon notified Congress of the possible sale of 48 F-16s as part of a deal valued at 4.5 billion dollars. Two dozen F-16s would be new F-16C/D block 50/52 aircraft and the other two dozen would be refurbished surplus USAF F-16C/D block 25 aircraft. In March of 2010 the Romanian government decided only to opt for the second part of this deal, being the purchase of 24 second-hand USAF airframes. This decision was instigated by the difficult financial situation of Romania and the

Peace Carpathian II

In 2019 a rumor came through that Romania was to acquire another batch of second-hand F-16's from Portugal. At first 4 A-models and 1 B-model was reported. Both governments negotiated the deal and in January of 2020 a deal was signed for a total of 5 airframes, albeit all of them being A-models to complement the existing fleet to a total of 17 airframes. Deliveries of these airframes started in August of 2020 with the last foreseen in early 2021.

Peace Carpathian III

In November of 2021 it became aparant that Romania was interested in another batch of second-hand F-16s. Albeit their first resource - Portugal - wasn't able to provide those, another supplier arose. Norway was set to retire it's fleet of F-16s by the end of 2021 and therefore offered those for sale. Romania responded swiftly and secured a deal to acquire up to 32 of their former F-16s. The project is valued at € 454 million which includes the aircraft (€ 354 million), logistical equipment, training and support for up to 10 years of operation (€ 100 million). These F-16s have a more advanced configuration then the previous Portuguese batch with these aircraft being updated to the MLU 6.5.2 version, while the existing airframes are still on MLU 5.2 version. It is foreseen that those aircraft will eventually being upgraded to the same standard as well.

Delivery of these aircraft is foreseen to start in 2022 already, yet is was postponed to 2023 with deliveries still continuing in a slow pace. The final split between A and B models is not yet known

FAR Inventory

Program	Model	Block	Qty.	Serials	Delivered
Peace Carpathian I	F-16A	Block 20MLU	9	1601/1609	2016-2017
	F-16B	Block 20MLU	3	1610/1612	2016-2017
Peace Carpathian II	F-16A	Block 20MLU	5	1613/1617	2020-2021

Operational Service

Units

Please refer to the F-16 Units section for an overview of units.