international-relations

Romania Becomes the New Center of NATO's Military Posture Against the Russians

Since NATO deploys an immediate reaction force in Eastern Europe, it has to deploy permanent and temporary forces in countries such as Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. One of the bases that would serve this purpose is Romania's Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base.

Fighter Aircraft Status of the Romanian Air Force and F-35 Procurement

The Romanian Air Force (Forțele Aeriene Române) flies 17 F-16AM/BM fighters purchased from Portugal. In addition, the 32 F-16AM / BM aircraft purchased from Norway in November 2022 for 388 million USD are expected to be completed by this year. Thus, a total of 49 F-16 aircraft will be in the inventory of the Romanian Air Force, meeting the needs for the next 10 years (until 2034). This is because the airframe life of these aircraft is limited to 8,000 hours, and it is not possible to increase their airframe life to 12,000 hours with structural modernisation. In the meantime, it was decided to decommission all MiG-21 aircraft in the inventory.

Therefore, Romania started to search for new fighter jets to serve the Air Force in the 2030s. Last year, the Romanian Parliament approved the procurement of 32 F-35A aircraft from the United States (for about USD 6.5 billion), taking into account the procurement package presented by the government. It was then decided to proceed with a second procurement process of 16 F-35s. Finally, Romania envisages to start using F-35 aircraft simultaneously with the decommissioning of the F-16s in its inventory in the early 2030s.

In this context, it was planned to deploy the F-35 aircraft to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, one of the active airfields of the Romanian Air Force. As a result, the airfields where the F-35 aircraft are deployed must have a standardised infrastructure for flying these aircraft. For example, if Turkey's F-35 procurement process had proceeded normally, the plan for the deployment of the first F-35 squadrons at the 7th Main Jet Base Command/Erhaç (Malatya) would have required prior preparation of Erhaç and improvement of the airfield's infrastructure. In fact, this process was a replication for the F-35 of a practice that had been carried out at bases where F-16s had been deployed since 1984, as part of the Turkish Air Force's F-16 modernisation process. At the end of the day, Erhaç was modernised and the airfield was prepared with an expenditure of approximately 1 billion USD, but these efforts and preliminary preparations were left idle when the planes did not arrive.

A modernisation process similar to Erhaç is now being carried out for Romania's Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base. Since the Romanian airbase in question also needed to be expanded (Erhaç was already within the limits of the existing base), the Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase was also considered for expansion, possibly taking into account the need for additional structures to serve other military purposes. As far as the press is concerned, it is known to be larger (around 17 per cent, according to various sources) than Ramstein, an airbase in Germany, where mainly American troops are stationed. In this case, it is a necessity for Romania to spend 2.5 billion USD. In addition to the maintenance of the runways and the construction of additional taxiways, the modernisation requires the construction of hangars, weapons depots, armouries, maintenance workshops and facilities, flight line improvements, etc. suitable for the F-35, as well as complexes including social areas, schools, lodgings, military hospitals and shopping centres for the personnel who will serve at this air base.

Is Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base becoming a NATO base?

According to a report in Euronews a couple of days ago, Romania was building the largest base in Europe, where approximately 10,000 soldiers would be stationed. The report even claimed that this base would be the largest NATO base in Europe.

NATO is a political and military organisation with an approach that takes steps to improve the infrastructure of its allies. In this respect, Romania may have received a certain amount of NATO infrastructure funds, for example, perhaps 250 million USD for Romania, which spends 2.5 billion USD. In this case, Romania is expected to make this air base available to allied aircraft from other countries in the event of a crisis in Eastern Europe. After all, according to the fifth article of the North Atlantic Treaty, an attack on one member is considered an attack on the other 31 states. At least that is what the treaty dictates. Accordingly, it is a common practice for NATO to support a country, especially if the national resources of that country are not sufficient to cover such expenditures on its own, by transferring resources from the rich countries of NATO (USA, Germany, UK, France, etc.).

Especially during the Cold War, many developing NATO member states, including Turkey, have benefited from the alliance's infrastructure funds. Almost all air bases in Turkey were somehow built using NATO infrastructure funds in addition to national resources. This is also true for Greece. In Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which joined NATO in 1999 after the end of the Cold War, some airfields were also upgraded with NATO funds. In return for the NATO funding support to Romania, I believe that the air base in this mountainous region could also be used for the deployment of an alliance command and control centre and brigade level troops. Since NATO is deploying a rapid reaction force in Eastern Europe, it has to deploy permanent and temporary forces in countries such as Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. I find it normal that Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base will be one of the bases that will serve this purpose. I think that it will be an air base that will serve the military needs of both Romania and NATO. I believe that Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, which will have a more advanced infrastructure than Incirlik Air Base in one aspect, can also serve as a forward deployment base for F-35 aircraft for the USA in the coming years.

Locations, Facilities and Bases of NATO Member States in Romania

Approximately 5,000 allied troops are stationed in Romania. The majority of these military personnel are American, and American troops are mainly stationed at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, located near the town of Constanța, and at military installations in the surrounding area.

A missile battery with the American Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence System is stationed at the Deveselu base.

In Capu Midia, there is a firing range facility with the French MAMBA anti-missile defence system.

In Bucharest is the headquarters (in Sibiu) of the South-Eastern Division, also multinational, of the multinational South-Eastern Corps.

The base at Cincu is a French-led base, and is a centre where French troops and a small number of Luxembourgish troops are stationed.

In Craiova is the headquarters of the multinational south-eastern brigade.

In Câmpia Turzii there are facilities used by the US as a base for drone operations.

In Oradea, the headquarters of the human intelligence (HUMINT) collection centre for intelligence purposes is located.

Finally, there is an air base in Fetesti, where NATO aircraft are temporarily deployed on a rotational basis and used to carry out air policing missions. Over the past few years, air defence aircraft from Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom and other allied countries have been deployed to this base for four-month periods in order to ensure that allied aircraft continue to contribute to the air defence of Romania and NATO. These deployments are still ongoing. Turkish and Spanish fighter jets are currently stationed in Fetesti.

Conclusion

2022 Although NATO is not directly behind the Russia-Ukraine War that started in February, many NATO member states continue to support and provide arms aid to Ukraine under the guidance and encouragement of the United States. Moreover, it is no longer a secret that NATO defines Russia as a 'threat'. Moreover, NATO is seeking to develop all-out measures against the possibility that the Russians in Eastern Europe may expand this war in the future and shift it from the territory of Ukraine to, for example, the Baltic states, Poland or the new members Finland and Sweden. Poland has embarked on an arms race, procuring tanks, armoured vehicles and aircraft from many countries, particularly from the USA. Similar pursuit, especially in the F-35 dimension, has become a valid trend for countries such as Romania, Czech Republic, Croatia, etc. Germany has deemed it necessary to allocate approximately 100 billion euros for armament. In Europe, it seems as if there is a movement, albeit slow, towards preparing for the third world war.

Under these circumstances, Romania has begun to modernise the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, where it plans to deploy the 32 F-35 aircraft that Romania decided to procure in September last year. The amount of funds allocated for this base is estimated at USD 2.5 billion and/or EUR 2.5 billion. The source of this amount of money is predominantly the Romanian Government, and I believe that part of it is also partly from NATO funds. Finally, American troops are currently serving in and around this base, and I expect that a brigade-level unit will continue to serve in Romania against Russia in the coming years. In this context, I consider it normal for American F-35s to use this base as a forward deployment area.

After the Cold War, the south-eastern wing of NATO, where Turkey is located, and its surroundings were seen as the region that posed the greatest threat to NATO. A certain phase of détente with the Russians had begun and NATO had started to expand eastwards. Under these circumstances, Eastern Europe was almost eliminated as a front.

In 2008, the historic Bucharest Summit in Romania was a summit where NATO showed its determination to admit Georgia and Ukraine as members of the Alliance. Putin's Russia responded first by launching a military operation in Georgia to oust Georgia from the game, then by annexing Crimea in 2014, and finally by attempting to invade Ukraine in 2022, almost completely closing the book on Ukraine's NATO membership. These developments have turned Eastern Europe back into a front against the Russians, while the south-eastern front, where Turkey is located, seems to have lost its former importance in the current circumstances. In this respect, Incirlik is becoming less important for the Alliance and the United States, whereas military bases and facilities in countries such as Romania, which provide the opportunity for forward deployment in Eastern Europe against the Russians, come to the fore.

Today, President Klaus Iohannis of Romania, which is on its way to becoming a rising ally in Eastern Europe in terms of NATO activities, must have seen this situation as a historic opportunity for his own succession and for his country to assume an important mission in NATO, as he officially announced his candidacy for NATO Secretary General on 13 March. Let's see whether Iohannis' candidacy will be approved by other countries.

Note: In connection with this topic, in tomorrow's article, I would like to draw your attention to the American Military Deployment policy in Europe after the Cold War and today, and where and for what purpose American troops are deployed.