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Romania Air Force
In 1989 the Romanian Air Force had approximately 32,000
personnel and, because of the high technical
qualifications
required of them, less than one-third were conscripts. The
air
force operated more than 350, mostly Soviet-built, combat
aircraft.
It also had responsibility for transport, reconnaissance,
and
rotary wing aircraft as well as the national air defense
system.
The air force's primary mission was to protect and support
the
ground forces in defending the country against invasion.
It also
had a major role in operating, maintaining, and supplying
trained
personnel for the national airline TAROM.
The air force was divided into three tactical air
divisions.
Each air division had two regiments with two or three
squadrons of
interceptor and one squadron of ground attack aircraft as
well as
supporting transport, reconnaissance, and helicopter
elements
(see
fig. 9). With a few notable exceptions, most aircraft in
the
Romanian order of battle were designed and produced in the
Soviet
Union. The air force had fifteen interceptor squadrons,
three with
fifteen MiG-23 fighters each and twelve with similar
numbers of
MiG-21 fighters. Romania received its first MiG-23s from
the Soviet
Union in the early 1980s, nearly ten years after the plane
entered
service in Soviet and some other Warsaw Pact air forces.
Soviet
allies in Third World countries such as Syria, Libya, and
Iraq had
the MiG-23 in their inventories before Romania did.
Romanian
fighters carried the 1960s-era Soviet AA-2/ATOLL
air-to-air
missile. The air force had six ground attack squadrons
operating
eighty-five 1950s-era MiG-17 aircraft made in the 1950s,
which had
been modified and transferred from duty as interceptors
when
Romania acquired the MiG-21, and thirty-five
Romanian-built IAR-93
Orao ground-attack fighters. In 1989 the air force had an
additional 125 Orao close air-support aircraft on order.
Transport, reconnaissance, and helicopter squadrons
supported
the ground forces by airlifting ground forces units,
collecting
intelligence on the composition and disposition of hostile
forces,
and conducting medical evacuation, mobile command, and
utility
functions. In 1989 Romania had eleven An-24, eight An-26
(both
smaller than the United States C-130 transport), and
several other
Soviet transport aircraft, as well as four Polish Li-2 and
two
American-made Boeing 707 transports. Using its total lift
capability, however, it could transport only the men and
equipment
of one airborne battalion. Reconnaissance squadrons
operated twenty
Soviet Il-28 aircraft built in the 1950s. Helicopter
squadrons
operated fifty-five IAR-316B Allouette III and forty
IAR-330 Puma
helicopters produced in Romania under French license and
twentyfive Soviet Mi-4 and Mi-8 helicopters. Helicopter
squadrons
directly supported the ground forces by providing enhanced
mobility
and fire power for small units. The air force had a large
pilot
training program, which reflected an apparent intention to
develop
increased capabilities. In 1989 it had sixty
Czechoslovakianproduced L-29 and L-39 jet training aircraft, twenty older
Soviet
MiG-15 trainers, and a small but growing inventory of
Romanianbuilt trainers.
The fourteen interceptor squadrons of the air force
were the
first line of defense in the country's air defense system.
The air
force also controlled the ground-based air defense network
of 135
SA-2 surface-to-air missiles, early warning radar, and
command,
control, and communications equipment dispersed among
twenty sites
around the country. The national military command
authority in
Bucharest and in the country's oil-producing region around
Ploiesti were the areas best protected against air attack.
In 1989
Romania still depended on the Soviet Union to supply all
of its air
defense weapons and equipment.
Data as of July 1989
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