Inauguration of the European F-16 Training Center

On Monday, November 13, Minister of National Defence, Angel Tîlvãr, and his counterpart from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, inaugurated the European F-16 Training Center in Romania, which will operate at 86 Fetești Air Base.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by the Ambassadors of Denmark, the Netherlands, the United States of America and Ukraine and by representatives of the American company Lockheed Martin.

The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Daniel Petrescu, the Chief of the Air Force Staff, Lieutenant General Viorel Panã and chiefs of several central structures of the Ministry of National Defence also attended the event.

This project, the first at European level, represents an important milestone both for the Romanian-Dutch cooperation and for the practical reflection of Allied solidarity. At the same time, it will speed up the training of the Romanian pilots who will operate the F-16 aircraft purchased by Romania from Norway, which are soon to enter the service of the Romanian Air Force.

“The European F-16 Training Center will play a vital role in the training of the Romanian pilots who are to operate these high-performance aircraft. Through this ambitious initiative, we aim not only at training a significant number of pilots, but also at obtaining new qualifications for those who already operate F-16 aircraft in Romania", the Romanian Minister of Defence said.

At the same time, Minister Tîlvãr emphasized that the Center established at 86th Air Base aims at providing an adequate response not only to the current and future requirements of the Romanian Air Forces, but also for supporting allies and partners, such as Ukraine.

"I signed, during the Vilnius NATO Summit, Romania's participation in the establishment of the International F-16 Coalition, alongside a significant number of states. This demonstrated what we could achieve together in support of Ukraine, while providing a platform conducive to the calibration of our efforts with those of the Allies and regional partners. We are currently analyzing the most effective ways to integrate the training of Ukrainian pilots into the program, as soon as possible" Minister Tîlvãr stated at the inauguration ceremony.

The Romanian official highlighted the excellent cooperation between Romania, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Lockheed Martin company in order to turn such a complex project into reality in the shortest possible time.

As part of this important event, the Romanian Minister of Defence had a bilateral meeting with his Dutch counterpart.

During the talks, the two officials addressed political-military and security developments, with focus on the current situation in the Black Sea Region, but also in the Middle East, as well as the coordinates and opportunities to enhance the Romanian-Dutch defence cooperation, with emphasis on consolidating regional security and providing support to the partners in the area.

The Romanian official thanked for the commitment and solid contribution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the allied operational projects run in Romania and emphasized our country’s commitment regarding the increase of defence cooperation, both at the level of strategic dialogue and the concrete projects run in the military field, in especially those regarding the profile of the Allied presence in Romania, training, exercises and the cyber defence.

The Press Office