Romanian Air Force F-16s delivered
In addition to our 25 October 2020 news item on the imminent delivery of two more Fortele Aeriene ale Romaniei (FAR, Romanian Air Force) F-16AMs, we can now report that both fighters, serials 1613 and 1617, were delivered via Aviano air base on Friday 30 October 2020.
So, still one aircraft (1615, ex Portugal 15134) needs to be delivered to complete the inventory of 17 aircraft, consisting of fourteen single seat aircraft and three dual seat aircraft.
The Romanian Air Force ordered the F-16s in two different batches. In 2013, Romania signed a contract with Portugal for the delivery of 12 Lockheed F-16AM/BM Fighting Falcons. The first six Fighting Falcons entered service with the air force in October 2016, another three were delivered in December 2016 and the last three entered service in 2017. In 2019, Romania signed a contract with Portugal for another five F-16AM fighter aircraft.
All F-16s are operated by Escadrila 53 Vanatoare Warhawks / Baza 86 Aeriana at Borcea/Fetesti. It is good to give you an overview of the Romanian Air Force Fighting Falcon fleet:
F-16AM
1601 ex POR 15121 Escadrila 53 M17-1/61-497
1602 ex POR 15123 Escadrila 53 M17-4/61-534
1603 ex POR 15124 Escadrila 53 M17-5/61-537
1604 ex POR 15125 Escadrila 53 M17-6/61-541
1605 ex POR 15126 Escadrila 53 M17-9/61-575
1606 ex POR 15127 Escadrila 53 M17-10/61-592
1607 ex POR 15128 Escadrila 53 M17-12/61-600
1608 ex POR 15129 Escadrila 53 M17-13/61-610
1609 ex POR 15130 Escadrila 53 M17-14/61-615
1613 ex POR 15122 Escadrila 53 M17-2/61-511
1614 ex POR 15132 Escadrila 53 M17-16/61-626
1615 ex POR 15134 on order M17-18/61-630
1616 ex POR 15135 Escadrila 53 M17-19/61-633
1617 ex POR 15141 Escadrila 53 M17-8/61-658
F-16BM
1610 ex POR 15137 Escadrila 53 M18-1/62-91
1611 ex POR 15138 Escadrila 53 M18-2/62-117
1612 ex POR 15139 Escadrila 53 M18-3/62-118
For detailed information on the Romanian Air Order of Battle please visit here.
Photos: Romanian Air Force