Oki so Here it goes there is a heated discussion over what should the Romanian Airforce be equiped.
There are 3 choices to be made regarding this. However i would of preffered 5 .
1-F16 :The drawback is that they can get only 24 new planes and 24 second hand [planes (evn though oland bought 48 new ones for the same money )
2- Saab Grippen A much newer planet then the aging F16 . It is also Cheaper and less expensive to operate and maintain. And it comes with a almost 100% offset program. Also the planes will be maintained and built by a romanian firm .
3-Eurofighter Typhoon one of the most advanced planes in the world . However it is also very expensive. Much more then the Saab and the F16 but it is latest generation plane.
5-The french built Rafalle
6-The Mirage Also from France. which are both superior planes when compared to the F 16 and perhaps even the Saab.
F-16: Marvelous dogfighter that would mop the floor with the others, superb multirole craft capable of handling almost any mission given it, but short range. Hardly obselete, a Block 52 with AMRAAMs will acquit itself well against any of these, though with the Typhoon it would be at some small disadvantage until it turned into a dogfight, where the F-16's smaller size and better manuvering would give it an edge. Disadvantage is that refurbished airframes are getting slightly old, and it's only marginally capable all-weather strike via the addition of a LANTIRN pod. Has a wide variety of precision ordinance available, except for laser-guided. On the plus side, it's also relatively cheap to purchase and maintain. This is also one of only two aircraft on the list capable of performing Supression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) missions with some degree of success.
Grippen: Multi-role capablity, able to operate from almost any paved surface, but it gave up a lot of weight to get that, resulting in short range and low overall capablity. Not as good a dogfighter, and its missiles are rather lackluster compared to the other options (or even buying SU-27Ds/whatever the latest version of the MiG-29 is from the Russians). Like the F-16, the airframes are getting slightly old. It's not capable of all-weather strike. Weapons load is surprisingly large all things considered, but not as large as an F-16 or Rafale. Capable of using precision ordinance including laser-guided weapons, but not many of them.
Eurofighter Typhoon: Best BVR fighter of the bunch, with the longest-ranged missiles, and an excellent dogfighter (though not as good as the F-16 or Rafale). Not a multirole aircraft in any sense of the word, this is an air defence fighter, and while like any plane in the world it can carry iron bombs for ground attack, it's not going to be pleased with the mission and there are much better options. Absolutely no capablity to use precision ordinance for ground attack, and its weapons load in such a situation would be considered very small. Also very expensive.
Rafale: Available with a variety of options and in both two-seat and single-seat forms, the Rafale is as good a multirole aircraft as the F-16, has better range than even the Eurofighter (it descends from a carrier aircraft, so this is to be expected), and comparable missiles to the F-16. It dogfights well, probably being the runner-up after the built-for-the-dogfight F-16, and unlike the F-16 can be purchased with options allowing for true all-weather strike and laser-guided munitions. The Rafale is also capable of SEAD missions in a pinch, though its options in the antiradiation missile department are not as capable as the F-16's HARMs. It also has superior standoff attack options that are probably of no use to the Romanian Air Force, but you never know. Cheaper than the Eurofighter, but more costly than the other options.
Mirage 2000: The Armee'de la Air doesn't like these aircraft, and for good reason. They are available with an even greater variety of options then the Rafale, the problem is they're also very much constrained in their roles. Variants exist for air-to-air, daylight attack, all-weather attack, and (somewhat superfluously for Romania), nuclear ordinance delivery. All Mirage 2000s are capable of serving in a fighter role in a pinch, medium range, but mediocre weapons load compared to any of the others, even the Grippen, and their missiles were showing their age 10 years ago. Not capable of SEAD missions.
Just for fun, let's assess a few other possiblities:
MiG-29: Wide availablity, easy of maintaince, and in newer models quite capable, this is one of the few aircraft that would really hold it's own in a dogfight with an F-16 (partly because of the MiG's ability to launch missiles off-boresight). Designed as a multi-role aircraft and in some configurations all-weather capable, but the ordinance at its disposal are not as capable as the Western options and it can't perform SEAD missions like the F-16 or Rafale.
SU-27: Wide availablity, like the MiG-29, and high performance, this is an excellent air-defense aircraft. It is not truly multi-role capable but offers some options in that way, more than the Eurofighter, with some precision-guided munitions capablity and a large weapons load, but like the Typhoon it's just not going to be happy in the role. The ordinance, like the MiG-29, is slightly aged, but still reasonably competitive. Likely to be somewhat expensive, though.
Tornado: While like the Mirage 2000 it is constrained by its variant, but the air-defense version of the Tornado is a very good aircraft that would respond better to being used in a strike or CAS role then the Typhoon or SU-27. The ground-attack variant of the Tornado is probably still the best strike aircraft in the world, capable of performing any sort of mission except (unfortunately) close air support in superb fashion, with a wide variety of precision-guided munitions, and in a dogfight could give most interceptors a run for their money. It also has built-in SEAD capablity since it carries ALARM missiles for self-defense purposes (opposite the defensive Sidewinders), and could carry more if needed.
All in all, were it available, I would have said the Rafale, but since it's not, the F-16 will get you the most options and capablity for the money.
