A pair of Romanian Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Lancer Cs, from Escadrilla 861 of the Romanian Air Force based at Mihail Kogălniceanu International Airport, Romania, leaving RAF Fairford following their very welcome appearance at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2019.
The prototype MiG-21 first flew in 1956, with the operational fighter entering service with the Soviet Union in 1959. Since then over 60 nations have operated the 11,000 that were produced, with over 2,000 also being licence built in China as the Chengdu J-7.
Romania is one of a handful of nations that continue to operate the supersonic fighter and who, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, faced a shortage of spare parts out of Russia. This precipitated the modernisation of the Romanian fleet, with a total of 111 aircraft being upgraded between 1995 and 2002 and being given the Lancer designation. However, since then the Romanian Air Force MiG-21 Lancer fleet has steadily declined.
Romania currently has less than two squadrons of MiG 21 Lancer fighter jets operational, which it has been relying on for its own air and combat police missions. Romania will rely on these few planes left in use - of Soviet origin and in service for over 40 years - for at least three to four years from now, even though they are at the end of their useful life.
Romania's programme to upgrade to a new multi-role fighter aircraft is progressing, as on 25th March 2021 the final modernised and upgraded ex Portuguese F-16 Fighting Falcon was delivered. This completed an order that commenced in 2016 when Romania acquired 12 F‐16AM/BM Block 15 fighters (nine single-seat and three twin-seat), with a further five F-16s (four single-seat and one twin-seat) following for a final tally of 17.
Initial operating capability (IOC) was declared in March 2019. A follow-on F-16 order from the United States of a further 36 to 48 aircraft to equip a further two squadrons is anticipated.
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