Romania’s top defense organization has approved a plan to acquire F-35 Lightning II fighter jets for the country’s air force.
If the deal is finalized, Romania could become the third Eastern European country, after Poland and the Czech Republic, to operate the fifth-generation aircraft.
The decision was taken by the Romanian Supreme Defense Council, the country’s top defense body chaired by President Klaus Iohannis at a meeting this week.
“The process of modernizing the Air Force will continue with the purchase of the latest-generation F-35 aircraft,” the Romanian president’s office said in a statement. “These aircraft … allow (us) to achieve and maintain air superiority, a mandatory condition for ensuring sovereignty in the national airspace and, if necessary, its defense.”
there was no word on the number of F-35s jets to be purchased and value of the acquisition.
The fighter jets are designed to strengthen Romania’s modern fighter jet fleet. The country’s air service currently operates 17 used F-16s it bought from Portugal. Last year, the Romanian government signed a contract to buy 32 second-hand F-16s from Norway.
Romania is among the U.S’s Eastern European allies who are looking to upgrade their Air Force woth Lockheed Martin’s fifth-generation jet. In July 2022, the Czech government began negotiations with Washington to buy 24 F-35 aircraft.
In January 2020, Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak signed an agreement worth about $4.6 billion to acquire 32 F-35 fighters along with a training and logistics package for the Polish Air Force. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2024.
