Romanian Air Force

[rares209]

I still cannot belive that my country is using MiG-21 as their primary fighter jets. This plane was introduced in 1959 so you can imagine how 'high-tech' it is. I was amazed to find out that countries like Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia or North Korea are using the same fighter. Even if this plane is ancient for our times, european countries like Romania, Bulgaria or Serbia are still using it. What do you think about this? Do you think that NATO should force this countries to upgrade their Air Forces?

 

[RobertNick]

Back in the day Romania had great military fleet, but that was before the soviet occupation and systematic robbery that happened here from the 1950 to 1965.

 

[Scorpion]

Can you post pics of the Romanian Air Force and what kind of planes they operates.

 

[globulon]

I would think that the vast majority of countries who aren't military superpowers are using hardware from decades ago. I'd imagine that the costs to upgrade even a small fleet would be exorbitant for a country that isn't wealthy. While the planes may be old, they are enough to meet the needs of the individual country, especially because they can rely on other countries for defense and deterrence.

 

[petesede]

I still cannot belive that my country is using MiG-21 as their primary fighter jets. This plane was introduced in 1959 so you can imagine how 'high-tech' it is. I was amazed to find out that countries like Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia or North Korea are using the same fighter. Even if this plane is ancient for our times, european countries like Romania, Bulgaria or Serbia are still using it. What do you think about this? Do you think that NATO should force this countries to upgrade their Air Forces?

For what purpose? Unless the equipment is produced inside the country, then upgrading your military is just handing money from a pretty poor country to one of the richer countries. And again for what purpose? You aren´t going to be able to compete against any of the countries most likely to attack you.

 

[goncalogdct]

I would think that the vast majority of countries who aren't military superpowers are using hardware from decades ago. I'd imagine that the costs to upgrade even a small fleet would be exorbitant for a country that isn't wealthy. While the planes may be old, they are enough to meet the needs of the individual country, especially because they can rely on other countries for defense and deterrence.

Really agree with globulon here. Most countries nowadays simply don't have the budget to have state of the art military hardware. This is true for Portugal as well. And why should they focus their budget on that? Governments prefer to channel budget to areas seen as more important than that. Like education, or health.
I must say I agree with them on this. We are at a (relatively) peaceful time, at least in Europe, and money is better used in things which can benefit the general population more than on planes, or other military-related hardware. As the international order is today, that is the way things seem to be going.

 

[tournique]

Having other countries provide defense is the way to go in 21st century. So many alliances and pacts are made that one can still be defended while having o army of his own. But nobody can defend someone who can't defend himsefl!

 

[galmal]

Do you think that NATO should force this countries to upgrade their Air Forces?

Why should NATO have a say in how your country, or any other, chooses to spend it's money or defend itself? This is something that should be left up to the people of each country. These are tough economic times and a lot of thought has to go into where your money is being spent.

 

[003]

I don't think that they would need to upgrade their air forces especially if the country isn't that well-off (I am not saying that Romania is not well-off.) and if there's no serious threat in their government both from local and international opposition. War equipment is very expensive and the money that would be used to upgrade to latest ones, top-of-the-line, could be used for something else that would really improve the country's economy and comfort of its people. Now, would you sacrifice that money for something you're not sure if you'd be really able to use?

 

[petesede]

Why should NATO have a say in how your country, or any other, chooses to spend it's money or defend itself? This is something that should be left up to the people of each country. These are tough economic times and a lot of thought has to go into where your money is being spent.

Because the other members of those countries have promised to help protect you. Why should Germany promise to protect you, and spend money on upgrading their military so that you can ignore your own defense. If member countries do not all share the burden of a defense budget, then Germany and other countries are going to stop promising to help you.

 

[tournique]

Of course money could be used elsewhere, but every bit of investment that was made so far was pretty much useless because of the corruption.

 

[rares209]

Because the other members of those countries have promised to help protect you. Why should Germany promise to protect you, and spend money on upgrading their military so that you can ignore your own defense. If member countries do not all share the burden of a defense budget, then Germany and other countries are going to stop promising to help you.

This is exactly my point. I'm not saying that my country is wealthy enough to buy some new fighters, but they should at least buy a few second-hand F-16s as they're planning for quite some years. I think that NATO should set some requirements for the countries that want to join it. Anyway, here is a picture from the cockpit of a MiG-21 Lancer.

 

[tournique]

Looks pretty old and outdated. Also the protection should mainly come from yourself and after that, from allies.

 

[rares209]

Looks pretty old and outdated. Also the protection should mainly come from yourself and after that, from allies.

Yes, this is true. Is good to know that we are protected by other countries, but we should keep in mind that we are a state after all and our national security should be a serious matter,

 

[UAE]

Has there been any proposal for modernization of the RAF?