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Military activitiy in 2013: start of Deveselu works, the purchase of the F-16 multirole aircraft
The Ministry of National Defence (MApN), acting on behalf of the Government of Romania, signed this year the agreement with Portugal for the purchase of the F-16 multirole aircraft that will refresh the Romanian Air Force fleet, and succeeded in paying the first tranche due under the contract; works at the Deveselu base that hosts the NATO missile shield also kicked off in an event attended by U.S. officials.
This has been a good year for the Ministry of National Defence, also from the perspective of international relations, as Minister Mircea Dusa had several meetings with American officials during a two-day official visit to the U.S. where the sides discussed the NATO timetable, the multi-role aircraft that will equip the Romanian Air Force, the Deveselu missile shield and post-2014 Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defense, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also gave a fast and efficient response to two incidents that sent the Romanian authorities on high alert: the bus accident in Montenegro that killed more than a dozen Romanians (the bodies were flown back home by military aircraft), and the Hungary pile-up in late August that killed three and left another 18 Romanians seriously injured, requiring transport to hospitals in Bucharest.
*** Romania paid the first tranche for the F-16 aircraft: 100 ml euros out of a total of 628 ml
Romania's Defence Minister Mircea Dusa announced on October 1 the start, this autumn, of a program for the procurement of multirole aircraft, consisting of the upgrading of the aircraft Romania will purchase from Portugal, with the first F-16 plane expected in the country after 2015.
'We have finalised all the formalities regarding the commencement of the procurement of fighting and multirole aircraft for the Romanian Air Force, and the program starts this autumn by the upgrading of the aircraft Romania will purchase; about 80 people - pilots, engineers and technical staff - left for Portugal for the necessary training. As far as the arrival of the aircraft in Romania is concerned, this will be conducted according to a protocol after 2015, with the full squadron and capability to carry out missions to be achieved by 2017, when the flight resource of the MIG 21 Lancer aircraft runs out,' Defence Minister Mircea Dusa told the opening of the university year at the Military Technical Academy.
Romania will purchase a squadron of 12 used F-16 aircraft and to this effect, on June 19, the Government passed a bill on the acquisition of the multirole aircraft; the bill cleared the Chamber of Deputies in late June. In mid-July, President Traian Basescu signed into law the bill providing for the acquisition of multirole aircraft.
*** Missile shield installation works at Deveselu off, US officials attending
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Monday, October 28, in the presence of 'senior U.S. officials' to mark the start of works at the Deveselu base, Olt County (southern Romania), where the elements of the Aegis Ashore missile shield will be installed. Minister of National Defence Mircea Dusa declared on the same occasion that the amount of expenditure for the Romanian side on the military base until it begins operating is up to about 8.98 million euros (40 million lei).
Of this figure, some 1.12 million euros (5 million lei) were spent in the Deveselu community for utilities, respectively the construction of the water supply, sewage systems and the upgrading of the road linking the military unit to the national route.
He mentioned that the Ministry of Defence will also commission at Deveselu works for the revamping of the facilities designed to accommodate the Romanian military.
Minister Dusa appreciated the cooperation with American partners and noted that deadlines and responsibilities were set such that the works be carried out within the established timetable.
Defence Minister Mircea Dusa had also discussed the Deveselu facility with NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, during the latter's visit to Bucharest in May. In that context Dusa had remarked that 'the promotion of a European defense and security policy can only be achieved successfully by a strong and open Europe.'
*** Response of the Romanian authorities in the Muntenegro and Hungary road accidents
The Foreign Ministry announced on June 24 that 18 Romania tourists died the day before in Montenegro, when the bus they were riding in, heading for the Adriatic coast, swayed off a bridge and crashed into a deep ravine. Another 29 persons were seriously injured.
A crisis unit was set up with the Foreign Ministry, whilst a medical team coordinated by Secretary of State with the Health Ministry, Dr. Raed Arafat, embarked on an ample mission aimed at bringing home the wounded and the bodies.
Two airplanes - a Hercules and a Spartan - fitted out with the necessary equipment, took off for Podgorica on June 25. The first airplane carrying a total of 12 Romanians (11 wounded in the Montenegro bus crash and a woman injured in a mountain accident) touched down in Bucharest in the afternoon of the same day.
Staff of the General Inspectorate for Emergencies donated blood at the Bucharest Central Military Hospital, in sign compassion and solidarity with the victims.
An ambulance with 200 blood bags, 80 liters in total, was sent to the Bucharest University Hospital, where some of the patients were admitted.
The 'Mina Minovici' Forensic Medicine Institute also fitted out a premise where the relatives of the deceased in the accident were received for the identification procedure.
Just two months after the tragic incident in Montenegro, another dark episode happened in the morning of August 30 in Hungary, when a pile-up occurred some 25 kilometres southeast of the Hungarian capital on the M5 motorway, in the direction of Budapest, involving several vehicles, including a Romania-registered minibus traveling from Galati (eastern Romania) to Milan, with 19 passengers and two drivers on board; two men and a woman died in the collision and 18 people were injured. They were flown to Bucharest hosiptals with a Spartan plane, in an action coordinated by Secretary of State Raed Arafat
*** Two Romanian troops killed in Afghanistan
Two Romanian troops of the Naval Forces Task Group died in Afghanistan at the end of September while on a combat mission in the east of the country. The two sustained fatal injuries as they stepped on an improvised explosive device during a patrol.
Warrant Officer 3rd Class Vasile Claudiu Popa, 28, was married and was on his second mission in Afghanistan. He had been a Defence Ministry staff since 2006. Popa had been awarded the Romanian Army General Staff's Badge of Honour, NATO Medal article V and the Naval Forces' Badge of Honour.
NCO Adrian Postelnicu, 34, was on his first mission in Afghanistan and had been working with the ministry since 2009. He had been bestowed the Naval Forces' Badge of Honour.
The two were airlifted by a medical evacuation helicopter to the military hospital in Bagram, but the efforts of the medical team to save their lives were in vain.
With these two servicemen, the death toll on Romanians killed in these theatres of operations hit 25; another 122 were wounded. There are still approximately 1,000 Romanian troops in Afghanistan, most of them in the Zabul province.
*** 6th Spartan aircraft joins Romania's Air Force's fleet
The 6th C-27 J Spartan, a medium-courier aircraft, joined the fleet of Romania's Air Forces in early October.
A contract for the purchase of seven cargo aircraft was signed in 2007 and it is worth in excess of 216 million euros. So far, the Romanian Government has paid 119 million euros. The Defence Ministry will have until the end of 2015 to service the contract in full.
'The programme for the endowment of the Air Forces with cargo and medium-courier aircraft started some years ago. Last year there was a risk of the programme not continuing, of the sixth aircraft, equipped with medical equipment, and the seventh one, which is expected to arrive late this year or early next year ready to extinguish fires, not being purchased,' said Minister of National Defence Mircea Dusa at the start of the event.
Dusa also said the Romanian Air Forces have a complex fleet that allows for the conduct of many missions.
Spartan aircraft have been operated in various missions since 2010, having flown over 2,000 hours.
*** MApN stages most fastuous December 1 parade since the ‘90s
More than 2,000 troops from the Defence Ministry, Interior Ministry, Intelligence Service, Special Guard and Protection Service (SPP) participated on December 1 in the parade organised at the Triumphal Arch in Bucharest City to mark the National Day of Romania.
In a first, they were joined this year by some 140 troops from France, Poland, Turkey and the US. More than 200 pieces of military hardware paraded under the Triumphal Arch, while tens airplanes flew over the area.