Romania, Czech Republic advance F-35 acquisition plans

WARSAW, Poland — Romania’s Ministry of National Defence has announced it aims to sign a letter of acceptance in 2024 to buy 32 F-35 Lightning II fighters in the program’s first phase, and subsequently secure a further 16 aircraft.

Bucharest intends to purchase “the first two squadrons from the United States of America through the Foreign Military Sales …[scheme to buy] 32 aircraft. The purchase, whose value is estimated at $6.5 billion , will be based upon a government-to-government-type” contract, the Romanian ministry said.

“The endowment program is designed to be completed in two stages. At the end of these, the Romanian Air Force will count three F-35 squadrons,” the ministry’s press office told Defense News in a Sept. 28 statement. “Documents for the first stage of the program were sent for the parliament’s approval.”

Romania’s planned contract is to also cover the delivery of 35 engines, initial logistics support, training services for pilots and technical staff, simulators, weapons, as well as ammunition.

The Romanian ministry said it expects to receive the first jets in 2030.

The decision to buy a then-undisclosed number of F-35s was taken by the Romanian Supreme Council on National Defense (CSAT), a state body chaired by President Klaus Iohannis, at its April 11 meeting.

The jet is made by U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin. The planned deal could make Romania the fighter’s largest operator on NATO’s eastern flank .

A growing group of Eastern European allies have set their sights on the F-35. In January 2020, the Polish cabinet signed a deal worth some $4.6 billion to purchase 32 fighters along with a training and logistics package.

Meanwhile, Czech defense leaders said this week they had secured Cabinet approval to buy 24 F-35s.

In a Sept. 27 statement released by her ministry, Czech Defence Minister Jana Černochová said the project to buy the fifth-generation aircraft with related equipment, weapons and logistics will cost “less than five billion dollars, and will be paid gradually in the years 2024 to 2034.”

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the first fighters are expected to be ready in 2029, with deliveries to be completed in 2035.

Jaroslaw Adamowski is the Poland correspondent for Defense News.

波兰华沙——罗马尼亚国防部宣布，计划在 2024 年签署一份接受函，在 F-35 闪电 II 战斗机项目的第一阶段购买 32 架，随后再追加 16 架。

罗马尼亚国防部表示，布加勒斯特计划通过对外军售计划从美国购买“首批两个中队的32架飞机”。这笔价值约65亿美元的采购将基于政府间合同。

“这项捐赠计划分两个阶段完成。计划完成后，罗马尼亚空军将拥有三个F-35战斗机中队，”国防部新闻办公室在9月28日向《防务新闻》发表的声明中表示。“该计划第一阶段的文件已提交议会批准。”

罗马尼亚的计划合同还将包括交付 35 台发动机、初始后勤支持、飞行员和技术人员的培训服务、模拟器、武器以及弹药。

罗马尼亚国防部表示，预计将于 2030 年接收首批战机。

罗马尼亚最高国防委员会（CSAT）是国家机构，由总统克劳斯·约翰尼斯担任主席。该委员会在 4 月 11 日的会议上决定购买当时尚未公开数量的 F-35 战斗机。

这款战机由美国国防巨头洛克希德·马丁公司制造。这项计划中的交易可能使罗马尼亚成为北约东翼最大的战机用户。

越来越多的东欧盟友将目光投向了F-35战斗机。2020年1月，波兰内阁签署了一项价值约46亿美元的协议，购买32架战斗机以及相关的培训和后勤保障。

与此同时，捷克国防领导人本周表示，他们已获得内阁批准购买 24 架 F-35 战斗机。

捷克国防部长雅娜·切尔诺霍娃 (Jana Černochová) 在其部门于 9 月 27 日发布的一份声明中表示，购买第五代战机及相关设备、武器和后勤保障的项目将耗资“不到 50 亿美元，并将于 2024 年至 2034 年分期支付”。

捷克总理彼得·菲亚拉表示，首批战斗机预计将于 2029 年准备就绪，交付工作将于 2035 年完成。

Jaroslaw Adamowski 是《防务新闻》驻波兰记者。