The management of Aerostar Bacau (ARS), the traditional supplier of maintenance and repair services for Romania's fighter plane fleet, says the company is ready to supply repair services for F16 aircraft. Recently, Romania's Supreme Defence Council has approved the acquisition by the Romanian military of 24 second-hand multi-role fighter planes - F16 (manufactured by US-based Lockheed Martin) for 1.3 billion dollars (almost one billion euros). A future contract will follow, for the purchase of a further 24 new planes of the same type whose value could exceed one billion euros.
At present Aerostar provides maintenance services to ageing Romanian fighter jets MIG 21 Lancer, but which will be phased out by 2012.
"Our intention is to continue to supply maintenance services and logistics for Romania's new multi-role aircraft and our capabilities speak in our favour, all the more since the provision of maintenance services by a local company is a national security priority," says Grigore Filip, president and general manager of Aerostar Bacau.
According to him, the company is technically ready to provide maintenance services for F16 fighters that will be supplied to the Romanian military and also provides maintenance services for aircraft fleets of other countries.
Representatives of the Ministry of National Defence did not wish to identify the potential companies that could handle maintenance of F16 fighter jets, specifying that these contracts are awarded via tenders.
With 156.8 million RON (37.1 million euros) last year, Aerostar Bacau is the leading player on the Romanian aeronautics market, worth around 100 million euros.
The management of Aerostar Bacau (ARS), the traditional supplier of maintenance and repair services for Romania's fighter plane fleet, says the company is ready to supply repair services for F16 aircraft. Recent