Following the April 2025 announcement that Romania would receive all 18 F-16 fighters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force to help in training of Ukrainian and Romanian pilots, the jets are now transferred and the sides are ready to finalize the agreement.
Defense Romania reports that over the past two months, the F-16s were flown to the RoAF 86th Air Base in Borcea. As already confirmed by the Romanian Ministry of Defense, a Memorandum of Understanding to seal the deal was signed on the sidelines of the ongoing NATO summit in The Hague.
Read more: Romania's Dilemma: Too Many F-16s For Peacetime and Too Few For War
The agreement, concluded between the Minister of National Defense Liviu-Ionuț Moșteanu and his Dutch counterpart Ruben Brekelmans, establishes the necessary framework for the transfer of ownership of these 18 F-16s.
The donation aims to provide "Romanian, Ukrainian and other allied and partner pilots access to the highest level training programs, in accordance with NATO standards," the ministry notes. Although these specific jets are reserved for educational purposes, the total of operational F-16 aircraft now available to the Romanian Air Force, combined with the ones yet to be received under contract with Norway, amounts to a solid 67 fighters.
Still, not everyone in Romania has been excited about the deal. Earlier this month, former presidential aide and security expert Iulian Fota argued that keeping nearly 70 jets is too many for peacetime but still too few for a real war. He lamented that too much emphasis is placed on the Air Force while the Navy is underequipped.
But these expenditures may go up even further now, since having these many modern fighters means high maintenance costs, as former 86th Air Base Commander, retired air force Lieut. Gen. Victor Strîmbeanu warns:
"We are starting to become relevant players in regional security. However, attention and a very good economic assessment are needed, because there is a point beyond which the maintenance of some weapons systems becomes inefficient."
On a note from Defense Express, since Ukrainian pilot training will hinge on the serviceability of these jets, Ukraine may need to support the maintenance of the F-16s used in this effort.
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