@kamm funny as always
@SilvioD
1. Tanks
270 is the entire number estimated to replace all the TR-85s and T-55s.
Yes, it is impossible to buy 270 tanks at once, we are not Poland.
I guess that we will start just like Hungary with one or maybe two tank battalions (54 to 108 units).
And then buy more tanks over the years to a total of 270.
There are 54 pieces of TR-54M1 Bizonul. These are constantly maintained and I guess most of them are in working condition.
The entire park of TR-85M1 tanks has a high availability rate.
And there are a few hundreds of TR-85 Standard and T-55 on paper. Obviously, not all of them are in working condition.
But the Romanian Ministry of Defence doesn't make public how many armored vehicles are working or how many MiG-21s are still flying.
- Summary according to different sources:
54 x TR-85M1 Bizonul - active
235-315 x TR-85 Standard (on paper) - I don't know how many are active
43 x TR-580 - I don't know how many are active
285-495 x T-55AM/AM2 (on paper) - it is estimated that 108 are active (2 battalions)
2. Light 4x4 armored vehicles
Probably more Oshkosh L-ATV for the entire army, since Romania already ordered 120-130 L-ATVs for the Special Forces.
Renault also wants to sell us Arquus Sherpa vehicles.
3. F-16s
I am not happy with the possible acquisition of F-16s from Norway, but I guess it's better than nothing for us.
The ex-Portuguese ones were refurbished and still left with approx 4,000 flight hours each (approx. 20 years of use).
I think the Norwegians flew their machines more than the Portuguese so I don't know how much life they have in them.
And logically, with old second-hand machines, we are gonna spend more and more on maintenance and spare parts.
The positive thing is that even the old A/B variants can be further modernized to the F-16V standard with the AN/APG-83 SABR radar and better avionics (like Taiwan is doing).
Don't know if it is positive or bad, but if we look at Romania's history with the MiG-21, I wouldn't wonder if we will be able to fly these things until the year 2100
Maybe 80 years from now, the Americans will praise us for keeping the F-16 legend alive.
The official plan is to buy a first squadron or more of F-35s around 2028-2030. But who knows.
4. Satellites
I will quote what I wrote on my site some time ago:
"One of the most ambitious plans announced in recent years by the Romanian Ministry of Defense is to have its own satellite network.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense (MApN) publicly announced in November 2018 that it wants to have its own geostationary telecommunications satellite starting with 2022.
The Ministry of National Defense made public the fact that in the 2009-2018 period it spent approximately 7.5 million euros for renting and providing satellite communications services.
This satellite will be the first in a future satellite system meant to serve Romania's National Security System."
To be honest, this program seems insane because:
They say that they paid to allies 7.5 million in 9 years (2009-2018) for satellite services. This is not much.
Now they want to spend hundreds of millions on satellites when a satellite has a life of 15 years or so.
It doesn't make sense. I think Poland started its military satellite program, but the Poles have more money.
I guess every military needs satellite communication capability, but it's not a topic I am knowledgeable in.
I noticed though that some of the Piranha 5 have General Dynamics SATCOM On-The-Move Antennas installed on them.
5. UAVs
Three offers so far:
- Elbit Hermes 450
- Thales Watchkeeper X
- IAI Heron
I will stop here since I have the tendency to talk too much and I broke your forum with English (If I translate Romanian to Hungarian isn't quite accurate).