NATO member Romania already has 12 F-16s taken from Portugal. The additional 5 fighter jets will have the same M.5.2R configuration as the existing ones, but all 17 will be upgraded to M.6.X (Tape 6) in the near future. Four F-16s will arrive in 2020, while the 5th will enter Romania’s Air Force in 2021.
The budget for these 5 new jets, including the cost of the upgrade, is close to 300 million Euro. Back in 2013, Romania agreed to receive 12 F-16s from Portugal: 9x single seater (A-variant) and 3 twin-seater (B-variant). The first 6 F-16s came to Romania in 2016. Currently, Romania’s F-16s are used for air policing, together with fighter jets from NATO allied countries deployed to Romania.
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