Romanian Air Force

In 1818, during the reign of John Caradja, the prince of Wallachia, an unmanned hot air balloon was flown off Dealul Spirii in Bucharest.[14] On 2 July [O.S. 20 June] 1874, Marius Willemot, the owner of the hydrogen balloon named "Mihai Bravul" flew together with Majors Iacob Lahovary, Constantin Poenaru and Dumitrescu over Bucharest. The last flight took place on 19 [O.S. 7 July] 1874, Willemot flying together with Colonel Nicolae Haralambie, Ion Ghica and a third person. The balloon had made its first flight at Paris on 27 March of the same year.[15]

On 20 November 1909 the Chitila Piloting School was formed as a joint venture by Mihail Cerchez. The school, conducted by French flight instructors, had five hangars, bleachers for spectators and workshops where the Farman airplanes were built under license. The school opened on 9 July 1910, when the chief flight instructor and director of the school René Guillemin crashed a Farman III biplane from a height of 40 metres (130 ft) during a demonstration flight and broke his leg.

Guillemin was succeeded by Michel-Paul Molla who made the first flight across Bucharest on 7 September 1910. Molla was succeeded by two others before the school closed in late 1912 due to financial difficulties, having trained six officers, but only licensed two.[16]

In November 1909, the Romanian Minister of War commissioned Aurel Vlaicu to build the A. Vlaicu I airplane at the Bucharest Army Arsenal which first flew on 17 June 1910. On 28 September during the Fall military exercise, Vlaicu flew his airplane from Slatina to Piatra Olt carrying a message, Romania thus becoming one of the first countries to use airplanes for military purposes.[17] Along with other Romanian pilots, Vlaicu flew reconnaissance missions during the Second Balkan War.[18][19][20] Vlaicu III, the first metal aircraft in the world, was completed after his death, in May 1914.[21]

A Romanian Nieuport 11. The blue color on the tail appears nearly white in the black and white photograph.

On the eve of Romania's entrance in the war in August 1916, only 24 out of the 44 aircraft that had been imported and assembled at RGA were available. Another 20 aircraft were provided by the flight schools. The total of 44 aircraft included: 10 Bristol T.B.8, 7 Bristol Coanda Monoplanes, 5 Blériot XI, 4 Farman HF.20, 8 Farman MF.7 and MF.11, 4 Voisin III, 4 Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, 1 Caudron G.3 and 1 Aviatik C.I.[22][23][24][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]. Added to these were two native-made monoplanes designed by Aurel Vlaicu.[25] One of the Vlaicu monoplanes, A Vlaicu II, crashed in 1913, leaving A Vlaicu I as the sole Romanian-made aircraft in the Romanian Air Corps.

During World War I, Romania acquired 322 aircraft from France and ex-RNAS aircraft from Great Britain including Nieuport 11 and 17 single seat fighters and Morane-Saulnier LA and Nieuport 12 two seat fighters, Caudron G.3, Henry Farman HF.20, Farman MF.11, and Farman F.40 & 46 artillery observation and reconnaissance aircraft, Caudron G.4, Breguet-Michelin BLM and Voisin LA bombers.[26] On 16 September 1916, a Romanian Farman F.40 downed an Imperial German Air Force aircraft near Slobozia; this was the first Romanian aerial victory. By the end of World War I, Romanian pilots had flown about 11,000 hours and 750 missions; however, it was unable to prevent the December 1916 Romanian offensive at the Battle of the Argeș from being defeated, which resulted in the occupation of southern Romania, and the armistice on 6 December 1917 following the Russian revolution.[27]

A pair of IAR-80 fighters on patrol during World War II

When Romania, allied with Nazi Germany, went to war against the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Romanian Air Force had 621 airplanes, including its locally made fighter IAR 80/81. The air force accomplished hundreds of missions, contributing to Romania's recapture of Northern Bucovina and Bessarabia, which had been occupied by the Soviet Union a year earlier. Until the Odessa episode, the Romanian military fighters gained 661 air victories. Romanian Military Aviation fought on the Eastern Front until 22 August 1944, bringing an important contribution to the great battles at Stalingrad, in Crimea, and the Ukrainian fronts. Between 1941 and 1944, Romanian aircraft won 2,000 air victories. The most famous flying aces were Captain Prince Constantin Cantacuzino, who gained 69 certified victories, Captain Horia Agarici, and Captain Alexandru Șerbănescu, who shot down 60 enemy airplanes.

In the aftermath of King Michael's Coup of 23 August 1944, Romania turned against Germany and joined the Allies.

A pair of Romanian MiG-21 fighters, late 1970s

Starting with 1948, Romania tailored its military to Soviet concepts and doctrine. On 15 February 1949, the Aviation Command was established based on the Soviet model (regiments instead of flotillas). New Soviet aircraft, such as Yakovlev Yak-18, Polikarpov Po-2, Lavochkin La-9, Tupolev Tu-2, and Ilyushin Il-10 entered service. A year later, 9 Yakovlev Yak-17s and Yak-23s entered the air force, and in 1952, other 88 aircraft: MiG-15 and MiG-17. In 1958, the first supersonic fighter MiG-19 entered the inventory. Three years later, in February 1962, a new fighter was added to the inventory, MiG-21, which represented one of the most effective fighters of that time.

Starting with 1974, Romanian-made aircraft supplemented the already existing jets. The Romanian IAR-93 attack aircraft flew its first flight on 31 October 1974. It represented a great step forward taking into account that it was the only jet fighter not made by the Soviets, the only one ever manufactured and operated by a Warsaw Pact country.

In 1962, the first helicopter subunits were established and followed later on, in 1965, by the first Soviet Mi-2 and Mi-4 helicopters. Renewing the aircraft fleet process went on, the first 12 MiG-23s entering the service between July–September 1979.

The MiG-29 were withdrawn in 2003

On 14 May 1981, at 20:16, Soviet spaceship Soyuz-40 was launched from Baikonur to perform a common Romanian-Soviet flight, with Lieutenant Dumitru Prunariu and Colonel Leonid Popov as commander on board. During the early 1980s, 67th Fighter-Bomber Regiment and 49th Fighter-Bomber Regiment from Craiova and Ianca were equipped with new IAR-93s, which replaced old MiG-15s and MiG-17s. In December 1989, just a few days before the Romanian revolution against communism began, MiG-29 aircraft entered the Air Force inventory.

Four MiG-21 LanceR Cs were deployed from August–November 2007 at Šiauliai, in Lithuania for Baltic Air Policing. The Romanian detachment succeeded the French Air Force Mirage 2000Cs of Escadron de Chasse 01.012 from Cambrai, which fulfilled the Baltic Air Policing since May 2007. Once the RoAF finished its three-month stint, a Portuguese Air Force detachment took over the mission.[28]

The four aircraft and most of the staff came from the 71st Air Base. A total of 67 personnel, among them nine pilots, were part of the detachment: 63 served at Šiauliai, while other four served at the air traffic control centre in Kaunas, to ensure smooth cooperation with local authorities. The Romanian detachment attracted attention from the local media, not least from the fact that it was only the second time a fighter from the Soviet era deployed to Šiauliai – Polish Air Force MiG-29s had also been deployed there in 2006.[29]

The Romanian Air Force General Staff represents the military concept-developing, command and executive structure providing Air Forces peacetime, crisis and wartime leadership in order to reach, maintain and increase, as required, the operational level of the military subordinated structures so that to be able to operate under authorized commands responsible for military operations planning and conduct.

Generate, mobilize, structure, equip, operationalize and regenerate the required forces, provide the logistic support necessary to conduct military operations and based on higher orders, take over both the Joint Operation Air Component and independent air operations command and control, through the Main Air Operational Center. Starting with July 1, 2010, the Romanian Air Force bases were renamed to Air Flotillas.[30]

71st Air Base

86th Air Base

90th Airlift B.

95th Air Base

Application School

Mihail K.

Bucharest

Ovidiu

Giarmata

Suceava

Craiova

Muntele Mare

Bârnova

Curtea de Argeș

Romanian Air Force radar stations
Fighter base Helicopters Other flying units
AN/FPS-117(V) Radar station Control and Reporting Centre Air Signals and IT Centre

Alenia C-27J Spartan RoAF 90th Airlift Base

The structure current structure of the Romanian Air Force is as follows:[31]

• 71st Air Base "General Emanoil Ionescu"
  • 71st Air Base, Câmpia Turzii military airfield
    • 711th Combat Aviation Squadron, with MiG-21 LanceR C/B
    • 713th Combat Helicopter Squadron, with IAR-330 SOCAT
  • 71st Air Base annex, at Timișoara – Giarmata IAP
    • 712th Helicopter Squadron, with IAR-330L/M (MEDEVAC)
• 86th Air Base "Locotenent Aviator Gheorghe Mociorniță"
  • 86th Air Base, in Fetești – Borcea military airfield
    • 53rd Fighter Squadron, with F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU
  • 86th Air Base annex, at Constanța – Mihail Kogălniceanu IAP (former 57th Air Base)
    • 861st Combat Aviation Squadron, with MiG-21 LanceR C/B
    • 862nd Helicopter Squadron, with IAR-330M (MEDEVAC)
• 90th Airlift Base "Comandor Aviator Gheorghe Bănciulescu"
  • 90th Airlift Base, at Bucharest – Otopeni IAP
    • 901st Tactical Air Transport Squadron, with C-130B/H Hercules
    • 902nd Operational Air Transport and Aerophotogrametric Squadron, with C-27J Spartan and An-30
    • 903rd Transport Helicopter Squadron, with IAR-330L/M
• 95th Air Base "Erou Căpitan Aviator Alexandru Șerbănescu"
  • 95th Air Base, at Bacău IAP
    • 951st Advanced Air Training Squadron, with IAR-99 Șoim
    • 952nd Combat Helicopter Squadron, with IAR-330 SOCAT
• 142nd Reconnaissance Squadron, with Shadow 600 UAVs, at Timișoara – Giarmata IAP
• Air Operations Centre, in Bucharest
  • 2nd Airspace Surveillance Centre "North", at 71st Air Base, in Câmpia Turzii
  • Radar Station, in Ovidiu, with AN/FPS-117(V)
  • Radar Station, at Giarmata Airport with AN/FPS-117(V)
  • Radar Station, in Suceava, with AN/FPS-117(V)
  • Radar Station, in Craiova, with AN/FPS-117(V)
  • Radar Station, on Muntele Mare, with AN/FPS-117(V)
  • Civil/Military Radar Station, in Bârnova, with AN/FPS-117(V)
• 1st Surface-to-air Missile Brigade "General Nicolae Dăscălescu", in Bucharest

A IAR-99 Şoim in 100th anniversary of aviation colours

• 70th Engineering Centre, in Bucharest
• 85th Air Signals and IT Centre "General Doroftei Ghermănescu", in Curtea de Argeș
• 91st Logistic Base "General Aviator Andrei Popovici", in Bucharest
• Air Force Academy "Henri Coandă", in Brașov
• Air Force Personnel Training and Formation Air Base
  • Air Force Application School "Aurel Vlaicu", Boboc military airfield
    • 1st Air Training Squadron AI-A Phase, with IAK-52 and IAR 316B
    • 2nd Air Training Squadron AII-A Phase, with IAR 99 Standard
  • Air Force NCO and Specialists School "Traian Vuia", Boboc military airfield
• Capu Midia Surface-to-air Training and Air-to-Surface Shooting Range

• 57th Air Base, at Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport
• 93rd Air Base, at Giarmata Airport

The Capu Midia Surface-to-air Training and Air-to-Surface Shooting Range provides firing training, execution and evaluation facilities. It is located in Constanța County, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the city of, Constanța.

A MiG-21 LanceR 'C', in flight

Romanian Air Force IAR-330 SOCAT

• Three C-17 Globemaster III are available through the Heavy Airlift Wing based at Pápa Air Base, Hungary.[39]
• Five RQ-4D Phoenix are shared within NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance based at Sigonella Air Base, Italy.[40]

MIM-23 Hawk in Bucharest on National Parade Day of Romania

The MIM-104 Patriot system

An AN/TPS-79(R) Gap Filler radar

The Romanian Air Force also has several anti-aircraft systems:[41]

• Bernád, Dénes (2003). Rumanian Aces of World War 2 (Aircraft of the Aces 54). Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. pp. #–##. ISBN 184176535-X.
• Bernád, Dénes (1999). Rumanian Air Force: The Prime Decade, 1938–1947. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc. ISBN 0897474023.
• Craciunoiu, Cristian (February 2002). "Deux des Savoia..." [Two of Savoia...]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (107): 7–16. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Crăciunoiu, Cristian; Roba, Jean-Louis (2003). Romanian Aeronautics in the Second World War, 1941–1945. București, Romania: Editura Modelism International. ISBN 973-8101182. (bilingual Romanian/English)
• Green, W.; Swanborough, G., eds. (June 1971). "Oil Well Top Cover – Sixty Years of Rumanian Military Aviation". Air Enthusiast. 1 (1): 25–26.