![]() “Active inventory includes 220 T-55AMs, an upgraded model with reinforced BDD-type laminated ‘brow’ armor, laser range-finders, smoke grenade launchers, stabilized guns and sights, and gun-launched missile capability thanks to new fire control systems. But that fleet is also amongst the most outdated in the alliance for a country of its size, based on the Soviet T-54/T-55 tank, which entered service in 1954.” (author’s original emphasis). Perhaps it’s not so surprising that the Romanian Land Forces (Forțele Terestre Române) are still stuck with so many early Cold War era T-55 main battle tanks (MBTs) left over from the country’s dark days of Communism, when you consider that their Air Force still has the 1959 vintage MiG-21 Fishbed jet fighter in its fleet (thus putting the Romanian Air Force in the dubious company of still-communist countries that also use the Fishbed, namely Cuba and North Korea)!Īccording to Roblin’s aforementioned article, “Romania technically has more operational tanks than France, Germany, or the United Kingdom, with 377 in service according to the 2023 edition of The Military Balance. ![]() I got the inspiration to do this writeup on the Romanian Army’s capabilities after my esteemed 19FortyFive colleague Sébastien Roblin wrote an article for Popular Mechanics earlier this week titled “ The Turbulent Reason Why Romania Is Buying Abrams Tanks From America.” ![]() ![]() After having recently written multiple 19FortyFive articles on the military capabilities of one of the easternmost NATO member states, namely Poland – covering that country’s Land Forces and Air Force and Navy alike – it’s only logical that we now cover the capabilities of another easternmost NATO member and fellow former Warsaw Pact member, namely Romania. ![]()
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