Romanian Air Force/Fortele Aeriene Romane 2001
First formed in 1910 with a small flying corps the Fortele Aeriene Romane came into being after the collapse of the Ceaucescu regime in 1989.
In recent years the air force has retired many aircraft and placed them into storage. Many bases have also closed as it attempts to consolidate its forces and the main fighter type is now the Mikoyan Mig.21 LanceR, an upgraded Mig.21 from the state owned manufacturer Aerostar.
Romania became the first ex WarPac country to become a NATO member in April 1994 and plans are afoot to replace its aircraft with more modern Western types. In August 2001 Jetwash Aviation Photo's visited Romania for the RoIAT at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base/Constanta. During the trip both Bacau and Borcea-Fetesti air bases were also visited.(The images depicted here are pre-digital and so we apologise for the lower than usual quality in advance)
Bacau Air Base
Home to a Mikoyan Mig.21 LanceR unit Bacau was our first opportunity to get up close to the Romanian Air Force. As well as the based 95 AV Mig's it also housed a few stored Harbin H-5's, giving us the chance to see and photograph these rare and unusual aircraft. We were not disappointed as after a brief explanation of the unit and the aircraft by the base commander it was off to the flightline where some thirty LanceR A, B and C models awaited us, together with a couple of Antonov An-2's and the three stored Harbins which included one of only a couple of two-seat trainer versions operated by the F.A.R.
Antonov An-2 parked on the grass at Bacau 24-8-02
Adjacent to the An-2 above was its sister ship in an unusual colour scheme.
177, a Mig 21UM LanceR B of the resident 95AV on 24-8-01 at Bacau.
95AV was the first LanceR squadron to complete conversion to the type on 8th May 1997.
Mig 21 LanceR A of 95AV at Bacau 24-8-01.
The first flight of a LanceR took place in 1995. Three variants were manufactured, the A model ground atack variant,
B model two-seat training variant and the C model air defence variant. The upgrades took place at the Aerostar facility
in Bacau with assistance from Elbit Systems of Israel.
Mig 21 LanceR C air defence variant at Bacau. The resident 95AV fly A, B and C models.
The LanceR's were upgraded from Mig.21M, MF and UM aircraft.
Seventy five A models, twenty six C models and fourteen B models were converted in all and the programme completed in 2003.
The C model air defence variant has an Elta EL/M-2032 doppler radar and two MFD's in the cockpit.
Mig 21 Lancer B cockpit showing the MFD display screen on the left, not seen in a standard Mig 21.
Romanian International Air Tattoo (RoIAT)
The first major international airshow took place in Romania at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base near the coastal town of Constanta. A large and varied display of both Romanian Air Force and foreign aircraft were on display and it proved to be a great success and an opportunity to get up close to an air force that at that time was not a member of NATO and was rarely seen outside its own borders.
Mikoyan Mig. 15 in the static display at RoIAT 2001
Ferried from Bucharest for the static at RoIAT 2001 was 0904, an early Mig 17PF.
Mikoyan Mig.19P also normally resident in Bucharest. Note the old 'Soviet' style star markings
Mil Mi-8PS of 90 ABT based at Otopeni was also in the static 25-8-01
Immaculate L.39ZA Albatross in the static display. Note the large squadron badge on the tail.
The Aero L.39 entered service with the Romanian Air Force in 1982 as an advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft.
Designed and built in the Czech Republic the ZA is a light attack version with four underwing hardpoints and an under-
belly gun pod capable of holding 200 rounds in its GSh-23L twin barrell cannon.
Mikoyan Mig.23MF in a strange colour scheme. The airframe was stored at Constanta and presumably painted
in a non-standard scheme just for the airshow.
At the time only 3 Mig.23's were left in airworthy condition but they had the good grace to fly all of them.
Aero L.29 Delfin from 20 ASVsVB at Boboc
The Romanian Air Force acquired fifty two Aero L.29 Delfins for its Air Force School at Boboc.
Chinese built Harbin HJ-5 two seat trainer gleaming in the static display. The Harbin is a Chinese built version
of the Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle'
Close up of 408's nose showing the tandem cockpit.
This aircraft flew the last operational Harbin mission for the Fortele Aeriene Romane on 27th August 2001 when
it flew from Mihail Kogalniceanu to Borcea after the airshow.
IAR built Alouette 3 at Constanta 25-8-01. The FAR operated some 150 licence built Alouettes at its height.
Taxying in at Constanta is 90 ABT Lockheed C-130B Hercules number 6166 from Otopeni.
A total of four ex-USAF aircraft entered service with the FAR in 1996-97.
A Mikoyan Mig.29A from the based 57 AV. Many were present in the revetments past the staic display, where we managed to see all but two of their total compliment. At this time the Mig.29's were very much active, having flown with the F.A.R since 1990.
Plans were in place for Aerostar to upgrade the remaining aircraft to 'Sniper' standard and the first such upgrade had already flown.
However, as with many F.A.R aircraft these to were withdrawn as the planned upgrade was scrapped and the aircraft were all placed in storage at Constanta.
Antonov An-26 was busy after the display finished, presumably ferrying personel or hardware
These aircraft are from 90 ABT based at Bucharest-Otopeni
IAR built SA.330 Puma. IAR developed an anti-tank gunship version of the Puma known as the IAR 330 SOCAT.
Built in conjuction with Elbit Systems of Israel it incorporates a Nexter THL-20 20mm chain gun, LPR 57 rocket launchers,
8 x RAFAEL Spike anti-tank guided missiles and a Nexter NC-621 20mm gun pod on two outer hardpoints.
Another Puma. Note the differing camo scheme to that above. It appeared that they painted their aircraft in whatever
paint they had available at the time, as we saw all different kinds of schemes on various airframes.
Another Puma, another colour scheme, this time in overall grey colour
This aircraft is from 90 ABT based at Bucharest-Otopeni
Mig.21UM Lancer B from 861 Sqn, taxying in after its display at the RoIAT
Borcea-Fetesti Air Base
All of the fixed wing aircraft that displayed at the RoIAT operated from here on both days. Borcea-Fetesti is also the home of a Mig.21 unit (86 AVsVB) and the sole Harbin H-5 squadron (a Chinese built version of the Russian IL-28 Beagle).
On the second day of the show we visited the base to see the aircraft prior to their take-off's to take part in the display.
Aero L.39ZA Albatross on the flightline at Fetesti.
The aircraft took part in the flying display at RoIAT 2001
IAR built Yak-52 from 19ASdL at Boboc. The IAR-52 as it is known is used for primary flight training in the FAR
The last Mig.23UB flying with the Romanian Air Force from 93AV
The last Mig.23 mission was flown in September 2001, just a month after our visit.
Cockpit of said Mig.23UB no.135. Note the typical Russian green paint.
Mikoyan Mig.23MF from 93AV about to depart. Note the stylish shorts worn by the ground crew !!!
The Mig.23MF is the air defence variant of the Flogger and was the first Soviet fighter to have look-down/shoot-down
radar and a BVR capability. Thirty six MF's and ten UB two-seat models were operated by the Romanian Air Force.
Line of Mig.21 LanceR A's at Fetesti 26-8-01
The A model ground attack version has an Elta EL/M-2001B radar and single MFD (Multi Function Display)
screen in the cockpit and can carry both Western and Russian weapons.
Aero L.29 Delfin from 20 ASVsVB taxying to the runway at Fetesti. These aircraft were based at Boboc.
IAR 99 Soim on the Fetesti flightline.
At the time of our visit two units operated the Soim, being 49 AVsVB and 67 AVsVB
Another IAR 99 Soim on the flightline at Fetesti 26-8-01
IAR 99 Soim. Note again that as with many FAR aircraft the three Soims all have different colour schemes.
An 86 AVsVB Mikoyan LanceR A taxying from the flightline at Borcea-Fetesti.