The

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...

86th Air Base "Lieutenant Aviator Gheorghe Mociorniță" ( ro, Baza 86 Aeriană "Locotenent aviator Gheorghe Mociorniță") is located in commune Borcea,

Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 95% ...

. It is currently the home of the 53rd Fighter squadron (operating Lockheed Martin F-16s) and the 861st Fighter squadron (operating MiG-21 LanceRs), located at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport, 57th Air Base.

History

On 9 August 1958, the 206th Tactical Fighter Aviation Regiment, equipped with

MiG-17PF The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...

fighters, together with the 499th Technical Base are moved to the Cocargeaua (today Borcea) aerodrome and received a squadron of

MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was ...

aircraft. Since 1959, the 206th Tactical Fighter Aviation Regiment has been subordinated to the 15th Tactical Fighter Aviation Division and receives a new name - the 86th Fighter Aviation Regiment. In 1967, an important change took place in the 86th Fighter Aviation Regiment, with the introduction of a new type of MiG-21F-13 fighter jet. Thus, the 86th Fighter Aviation Regiment was fully equipped with supersonic aircraft: two squadrons with MiG-21F-13 and one squadron with MiG-19. In 1995, the 86th Fighter Aviation Regiment turned into the 86th Fighter Aviation Group and the 86th Fighter and Fighter Bomber Air Base. At the same time, the 86th Fighter Aviation Group was awarded the honorary title "Lieutenant Aviator ". Starting in 1997, a squadron at the 86th Air base began intensive training, in order to become capable of carrying out joint missions with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

forces. A special training program was initiated, aiming at a higher level of interoperability, and for this purpose the Fighter-Bomber Squadron was fully equipped with MiG-21 LanceR's. By the end of 2000, as a result of the Romanian Air Force reform, the structure of the 86th Air Base changed again. The 86th Air base has now a modular structure, fitting NATO's airbase model and offering a real background for achieving appropriate interoperability at this level, with the declared purpose to provide the necessary basis to plan, organize, command, and accomplish the missions assigned. In February 2022, hours after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, two

F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...

aircraft of the

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

landed at the 86th Air Base, in support of the NATO mission. The current commanded of the base, succeeding General Cătălin Băhneanu, is ''Comandor'' Cătălin "Miki" Micloș, former commander of the

53rd Fighter Squadron The 53rd Fighter Squadron (53 FS) is an active unit of the United States Air Force, stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Assigned to the 495th Fighter Group, the squadron was last activated on 10 December 2021, as an associate unit to the ...

References

External links

*
Order of Battle of the RoAF
*
86th Air Base on the Romanian Air Force official website
86 Buildings and structures in Ialomița County 1958 establishments in Romania {{mil-aviation-stub