After suspending all flight activities with its ageing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 LanceR B/C fleet on April 15 for safety reasons, the Forțele Aeriene Române (FAR, Romanian Air Force) has resumed operations with the Cold War-era fighter for a one-year period, after which the type will be withdrawn from service.
The FAR resumed flight activities with its LanceR fleet on May 23, after the Supreme Council of National Defense approved a memorandum to decommission the MiG-21 and accelerate the nation’s transition to the second-hand F-16AM/BM (MLU) Fighting Falcons that are either already in-service or in the process of being acquired. As per this memorandum, Romania’s MiG-21 fleet will remain operational in the air defence role until May 15, 2023, when the Cold War-era fighters are withdrawn from service permanently.
