By order of the Chief of Defense Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, the flight activities with the MiG-21 LanceR aircrafts of the Romanian Air Force were suspended, starting with Friday, April 15th.
The measure was taken taking into account the considerable incidence of aviation events and accidents recorded during the operation of MiG-21 LanceR aircraft, resulting in several victims and damaged or destroyed aircraft, in order to improve aviation safety and to prevent aviation events and accidents from occurring by reducing the risks associated with technical failures.
During the period of the suspension of the flight activities with the MiG-21 LanceR aircrafts, the Romanian Air Force will continue to execute the Air Police Combat Service with the F-16 aircraft from the endowment, supported by the Allied aircraft deployed in Romania, within the reinforced Air Policing mission (enhanced Air Policing) under NATO command. Also, the ground-based defense systems will execute the Air Police missions under national command, as well as within the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence System.
At the same time, measures have been ordered to speed up the steps towards the acquisition of the 32 F-16 aircraft from Novegia, which will constitute, in the next period, two more squadrons. The draft law approving this acquisition has passed the legislative transparency stage and is in the approval circuit, to be presented to the Romanian Parliament as soon as possible.
The available resource of the aircraft within the three squadrons of F-16 multirole aircraft, which will be operated by the Air Force, ensures their operation for a period of at least 10 years. The three squadrons will constitute an operational air capability to transition to the fifth-generation F-35s.