Romanian Armed Forces

Main article: Romania

NATO membership

Main article: NATO

History

2024

Preparation of air defense of NATO countries to counter missile strikes in the Odessa region of Ukraine

In October 2024, the Romanian Ministry of Defense submitted for public discussion a bill on allowing the air defense system to shoot down UAVs and manned aircraft over Romanian airspace. Until now, this was possible only if martial law was declared.

The decision is explained by the increased "risks near the Romanian border against the background of military operations in the Black Sea, the massive use of UAVs, both military and civilian, adapted for military use."

The main element of the law will be the permission of NATO air defense systems stationed in Romania to participate in any actions in accordance with collective defense treaties with NATO and EU members. This means shooting down Russian missiles and UAVs.

From the beginning of the SVO until that time, France transferred to Romania the SAMP-T air defense system (MAMBA) and two GM200 radars (the Black Sea coast, the Kapu-Media military base), Spain - the TPS-43 radar,

The NATO Deployable Air Command and Control Center (DACCC) is the LANZA LTR-25 mobile radar (from Italy), the United States - four F-16s and a TPS-80 radar.

In addition, the NATO Air Policing mission in Romania is reinforced with additional Allied aircraft (with a constant strength of up to 10 units), and since the end of September, Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft of the NATO Air Force as part of the Southern Shield mission.

Romania itself is armed with 26 F-16 aircraft (23 more will be delivered by the end of 2025), 1 Patriot air defense battery and 4 Hawk air defense systems, 5 AN/FPS-117E radars and several Soviet P-series stations. The purchase of 4 AN/MPQ-64 F1 Sentinel radars and 32 F-35 aircraft was approved.

The expected consequences of the adoption of this bill will be the transfer of additional air defense systems to Romania and their use to destroy Russian missiles and drones attacking military targets in the Odessa region.

The next round of escalation of NATO tension with Russia is caused by growing losses of weapons and military equipment supplied to Ukraine by sea under the guise of civilian cargo.

Romania becomes one of the main outposts on NATO's eastern flank and conducts rapid militarization

A clear sign of a change in the status of Romania is plans to purchase modern models of equipment and re-equip the army, the process of which continues to gain momentum:

In July 2024, Romania signed a contract for 54 K9 self-propelled howitzers and 36 South Korean-made ammunition transporters, as well as 18 thousand 155-mm shells. The agreement is for 5 years, and the first deliveries are scheduled for 2027.

On July 16, Bucharest also announced its desire, no later than autumn, to agree with the United States on the acquisition of 48 fifth-generation F-35 fighters in two stages. At this time, the country's Air Force operates used F-16 fighters purchased from Norway in 2022.

Earlier, Romania also entered into contracts for the supply of American tanks M1A2R Abrams, MLRS HIMARS, MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems, Turkish Bayraktar TB2 attack drones, as well as licensed production of Swiss Piranha V armored personnel carriers.

In parallel, NATO's military infrastructure continues to expand in the country: in particular, it is on Romanian territory that they plan to build the largest alliance base in Europe.

NATO Multinational Forces in Eastern Europe as of October 2024

Together, this additionally indicates the expansionist sentiments of the authorities in Bucharest, who claim to absorb Moldova and are trying to oust Russia from Transnistria.

Thousands of US military remain stationed in the country

As of February 2024, excluding countries with less than 1,000 US military

2023

Defense spending - 2.3% of GDP

Plan to open F-16 pilot training centre and approve forces to participate in operations outside Romania

Romania will create a regional F-16 fighter pilot training center, which will also be provided to Ukrainians.

This decision was made at a meeting of the country's Supreme Defense Council, headed by President Klaus Johannis, in July 2023.

The center should be built in conjunction with other allies and aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin. True, first Romanian pilots will be trained in it, and later it will be open to pilots from NATO countries and partner countries, including Ukraine.

This regional training centre should contribute to "building cohesion, demonstrating unity and strengthening deterrence and defence capabilities in Europe."

Also during the meeting, Council members approved the forces of the Romanian army and the Ministry of the Interior, which can be provided to participate in missions and operations outside the territory of the Romanian state in 2024.

2022

10 thousand servicemen left the ranks of the Armed Forces of Romania

According to the documents in the hands of journalists, in 2021, 6400 servicemen left the ranks of the Romanian Armed Forces - 1.5 times more than a year before. In 2022, this figure increased to 10 thousand people.

Under pressure from the EU, the Romanian government is trying to fight the state budget deficit, and one of the planned measures is to carry out pension reform. Authorities are talking about the need to gradually raise the retirement age and abolish pension privileges for a number of social categories, including military personnel.

If this happens, Romanians with sufficient military service will be forced to remain in the ranks of the armed forces until the age of 65.

Moreover, first of all, those representatives of officers and ordinary personnel who serve relatively recently are dismissed. In addition to the pension issue, they complain about inadequate wages, poor working conditions and outdated infrastructure.

German investment in upgrading Romanian factories for ammunition production

According to The Wall Street Journal (January 2023), an unnamed German defense venture has made significant investments in upgrading some Romanian factories to produce a variety of munitions, including 122 and 152 millimeter calibers.

As noted by the Rybar channel, the most likely investor is the Franco-German holding KNDS (KMW + Nexter Defense Systems), with whose money a repair base was created in Slovak Mikhalovets. Where the reconstruction of the workshops of the military-industrial complex will take place at the expense of the German government was not disclosed.

Romania There are already enterprises that are part of state ROMARM, which back in the days of the USSR produced the necessary types of shells and artillery pieces, such as the industrial workshops of the arsenal in Resit.

There are also factories of the Romanian military-industrial complex in Plopeni, Babeni, Dragomiresti, which were re-operated for the release of NATO-style ammunition. At the same time, the production of Soviet shells is quite possible at the facility in Babeni, since the Romanians have the necessary equipment for this.

Defense Minister Dynku dismissed due to calls for negotiations between the parties to the conflict in Ukraine

On October 24, 2022, the Romanian Minister of National Defense resigned. According to Vasile Dynku, he decided to leave the post so as not to block a number of defense projects.

The resignation of Dynku was the result of a conflict that arose between the head of the military department and the president of the country. In early October, Klaus Johannis chastised Dynka for calling Ukraine's negotiations with Russia the only chance for peace in the region. On the air of PrimaTV, he called on NATO countries and the United States to take care of the issue of negotiations, since the leadership of Ukraine alone does not represent a significant political force. "It would be ideal to reach a negotiating situation, even if it ends with a conflict freeze, the negotiations will still do more good than what is happening now," Dynku said at the time.

Dynku made scandalous statements earlier. Back in February, on the air of Radio România, the Actualități minister said that Romanians would eventually have to "learn to live with the Russians on the border." And in March , in an interview with the Romanian branch of Free Europe, he said that Romania would not provide military assistance to Moldova even if it was attacked by Russia. Since the country has no direct obligations to Moldova in the field of defense and security.

This time, the parliamentary party Union for the Salvation of Romania asked Prime Minister Nicolae Cuca to dismiss Dynka from office. Dynka was summoned to a plenary session, where he was supposed to explain himself for "strengthening Russian propaganda" and "an increasingly frequent division of the Kremlin's rhetoric." And the president advised the minister to better study the press and get acquainted with the official position of Bucharest on the Ukrainian issue.

The leader of the Romanian Social Democrats, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Cholaku, then defended the head of the Ministry of Defense. He has said he considers calls for Dynk's resignation to be "bonkers" and ministers who say any war ends in talks cannot be "shuffled."

2019:31 fighter planes in service

The number of fighter aircraft in Europe, 2019. Source - Global Firepower

2018:437 tanks