The US finally clears the sale of F-35As to Romania and estimates its price at more than 200 million euros per aircraft.
In total, Bucharest is requesting the purchase of 32 aircraft along with related equipment and services, and later seeks another batch of 16 more
The US State Department has finally announced its decision to approve the sale of F-35A fighter jets to Romania. With this move, picked up by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the way is cleared for an operation that must still be authorized by the US Congress, which received the corresponding notification from the DSCA on Friday. This entity has revealed that the maximum price that Washington estimates is 7,200 million dollars for the 32 aircraft plus related equipment and services. They are, at the current exchange rate, almost 6,480 million euros, which is equivalent to just over 202 million euros per device.
The final price, which Bucharest will have to face to acquire this fleet of fifth-generation fighters, will depend on the final equipment it acquires together with the aircraft and the negotiations that take place with the US authorities on this transaction.
What has now transpired is that the Romanian government has requested, together with the 32 F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and their corresponding 32 Pratt and Whitney F135-PW-100 engines plus an additional spare, additional items such as AN/PYQ-10 simple key loaders (SKLs); identification friend or foe (IFF) equipment; multipurpose missile equipment; ammunition and other weapons components; aircraft and ammunition support services and equipment; tasks, integration and support of tests and equipment; spare parts, consumables and accessories; maintenance and maintenance support; integrated computer systems; electronic warfare data; software; publications and technical documentation; training of personnel and training equipment; transportation support, and logistical support, among other related equipment and services. All this makes up the 7,200 million dollars initially estimated by the United States.