Romania To Buy 12 Second-Hand F-16 Jet Fighter Aircraft From Portugal

Romania plans to procure 12 used F-16 jet fighter aircraft from Portugal in a five year contract worth $600 million.

Corneliu Dobritoiu, Romanian Defense Minister, said, “We shall come up with a decision draft within CSAT. We are competing, with the Bulgarians. Referring to the acquisition, I assure you, all Romania's citizens and the EU partners included, that Romania observes absolutely all EU directives for this acquisition, to the letter”.

The European Commission has demanded that the aircraft be bought within an intergovernmental agreement with the military technique in use.

Earlier in August, Dobritoiu said that Romania could buy F-16s from Portugal after experts evaluated their technical state. The aircraft were found to be in “a very good” condition.

The aircraft will be presented after the pilots’ training is over in 2016.