Norway announced Friday it would deliver 32 second-hand F-16 fighter jets to NATO member Romania for 388 million euros ($385 million).
The deal, which comes as Romania is set to upgrade its outdated Soviet MiG-21 amid Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, will be delivered in 2023 and 2024 after being revised, Norway’s Defense Ministry said.
The contract includes the sale of spare parts and the training of technicians.
The transaction “will be a contribution to strengthening the air force of a NATO ally,” Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said.
He added that the contract would also gain advantages for the Norwegian defense industry, as it refurbished the aircraft.
Norway has finished flying its F-16 fighters, purchased in the 1980s, from active service earlier this year while deploying fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters.
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The first F-16s to enter service in the 1970s in the United States were fourth-generation fighters, but Lockheed Martin still makes modernized versions with advanced avionics and weapons systems that are 4. 5-generation aircraft.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed. )
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