Basescu and Obama discuss purchase of F16 jets for Romania, regional acquisition plan possible

Romanian president Traian Basescu and US president Barack Obama have talked about the purchase of F-16 jets during Basescu's meeting to Washington, according to the US Ambassador to Romania Mark Gitenstein. A plan including Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria, all to purchase such planes, is yet to be finalized. The regional plan would reduce the costs of the project for both the planes themselves and the pilots' training. According to Gitenstein, the acquisition may even involve new planes.

The Romanian Government canceled purchase plans for the 24 F-16 used planes last summer. The country's Supreme Defense Council had approved a purchase plan of EUR 1.3 billion, but Romania decided to temporarily halt it due to lack of funds. However, Gitenstein said in November last year that discussions could be re-started within six months, depending on Romania's credit rating evolution. editor@romania-insider.com