List of Romanian Air Force units

This is a list of Romanian Air Force and Romanian Air Corps units, past and present.

Squadrons

Active

57th Air Base
- 572nd Helicopter Squadron
71st Air Base
- 48th Fighter Squadron
- 712th Helicopter Squadron – based at Giarmata
- 713th Combat Helicopter Squadron
86th Air Base
- 53rd Fighter Squadron
90th Airlift Base
- 901st Strategic Transport Squadron
- 902nd Transport and Reconnaissance Squadron
- 903rd Transport Helicopter Squadron
95th Air Base
- 951st Advanced Air Training Squadron
- 952nd Combat Helicopter Squadron
Air Force Application School "Aurel Vlaicu"
- 1st Air Training Squadron
- 2nd Air Training Squadron

WW1

1916

Grupul 1 Escadrile (1st Squadron Group) - commanded by Cpt. Sturdza, assigned to the Romanian 1st Army. The group had 2 squadrons.
Grupul 2 Escadrile - commanded by Lt. Pașcanu (replaced by Lt. Negerscu), assigned to the Romanian 2nd Army.
Grupul 3 Escadrile - commanded by Cpt. Beroniade [ro], assigned to the Romanian 3rd Army. The group had 3 squadrons:
- Escadrila "București"
- Escadrila "Alexandria"
- Escadrila "Budești"
Grupul 4 Escadrile - commanded by Lt. Giossanu, assigned to the Northern Army.

1917

Organization in the summer of 1917 - Order No. 1247/1917

Grupul 1 Aeronautic Bacău, with its headquarters at Bacău and commanded by Maj. Alexandru Sturdza, assigned to the 2nd Romanian Army:
- Escadrila F.2 - commanded by Cpt. Gheorghe Negrescu [ro] (until March), then by Captain Panait Cholet
- Escadrila F.6 - commanded by Cpt. Scarlat Ștefănescu
- Escadrila N.1 - commanded by Cpt. René Chambe [fr]
Grupul 2 Aeronautic Tecuci, with its headquarters at Tecuci and commanded by Maj. Andrei Popovici, assigned to the 4th Russian Army (will be re-assigned to the 1st Romanian Army):
- Escadrila F.4 - commanded by Cpt. Haralambie Giossanu
- Escadrila F.7 - commanded by Cpt. André Goulin
- Escadrila N.3 - commanded by Cpt. Maurice Gond
- Escadrila F.9 - commanded by Cpt. Bertrand de Fraguier
- Escadrila N.11 - commanded by Cpt. Ștefan Protopopescu
- Escadrila C.12
Grupul 3 Aeronautic Galați, with its headquarters at Galați and commanded by Cpt. Nicolae Capșa, assigned to the 1st Romanian Army (will be re-assigned to the 6th Russian Army):
- Escadrila F.5 - commanded by Cpt. Radu Irimescu
- Escadrila N.10 - commanded by Cpt. Paul Bléry
- Escadrila B.M.8 - commanded by Cpt. Armand Délas

1918

From January 1918:

Grupul 1 Aeronautic Bacău, commanded by Maj. Athanase Enescu:
- Escadrila F.6 - renamed to Escadrila S.6 after receiving Sopwith 1½ Strutters
- Escadrila F.2
- Escadrila N.1
All squadrons of this group were based at Bacău.
Grupul 2 Aeronautic Tecuci, commanded by Maj. Sever Pleniceanu:
- Escadrila F.5 - with the aerodrome at Bârlad
- Escadrila S.8 - ex-B.M.8
- Escadrila N.11 - at Adjud
- Escadrila N.3 - at Tecuci
Grupul 3 Aeronautic Roman, with the headquarters at Roman and commanded by Maj. Haralambie Giossanu:
- Escadrila F.9 - aerodrome at Fălticeni
- Escadrila S.12 - ex-C.12, with the aerodrome at Dorohoi
- Escadrila N.10 - at Botoșani

From February 1918, a new group was formed in Bessarabia:

Grupul Aeronautic basarabean
- Escadrila F.4
- Escadrila N.3bis

Hungarian-Romanian War of 1919

Grupul 5 Aviație ("5th Aviation Group"), with the headquarters at Sibiu and commanded by Major Athanase Enescu:
- Escadrila S.2 - renamed to Escadrila B.2 after receiving Bréguet 14 aircraft. It was led by Lt. Emanoil Ionescu
- Escadrila N.7 - commanded by Lt. Iosif Răcășanu
- Escadrila S.12 - based at Gherla, commanded by Cpt. Gheorghe Racoveanu

Interwar

Organization on 20 March 1920

In 1929, the Groups were converted to Aviation Flotillas.

WW2

Fighter units

1st Fighter Flotilla
- 5th Fighter Group (Grupul 5 Vânătoare)
  - 10th Fighter Squadron - 51st Fighter Squadron from October 1939
  - 11th Fighter Squadron - 52nd Fighter Squadron from October 1939
  - 53rd Fighter Squadron
- 7th Fighter Group (Grupul 7 Vânătoare)
  - 56th Fighter Squadron
  - 57th Fighter Squadron
  - 58th Fighter Squadron
- 9th Fighter Group (Grupul 9 Vânătoare)
  - 47th Fighter Squadron
  - 48th Fighter Squadron
  - 56th Fighter Squadron
2nd Fighter Flotilla
- 1st Fighter Group (Grupul 1 Vânătoare)
  - 43rd Fighter Squadron
  - 63rd Fighter Squadron
  - 64th Fighter Squadron
- 6th Fighter Group (Grupul 6 Vânătoare)
  - 59th Fighter Squadron
  - 60th Fighter Squadron
  - 61st Dive Bomber Squadron
  - 62nd Dive Bomber Squadron
- 8th Fighter Group (Grupul 8 Vânătoare) - 8th Assault Group (Grupul 8 Asalt) from May 1943
  - 41st Fighter Squadron
  - 42/52nd Fighter Squadron
  - 59th Fighter Squadron
3rd Fighter Flotilla
- 2nd Fighter Group (Grupul 2 Vânătoare)
  - 65th Fighter Squadron
  - 66th Fighter Squadron
  - 67th Fighter Squadron
  - 50th Fighter Squadron
- 3rd Fighter Group
  - 41st Fighter Squadron
  - 44th Fighter Squadron
  - 49th Fighter Squadron
- 4th Fighter Group
  - 45th Fighter Squadron
  - 46th Fighter Squadron
1st Night Fighter Squadron (Escadrila 1 Vânătoare de Noapte)

Bomber units

1st Bomber Group (Grupul 1 Bombardament)
2nd Bomber Group (Grupul 2 Bombardament)
3rd Bomber/Dive Bomber Group (Grupul 3 Bombardament/picaj)
4th Bomber Group (Grupul 4 Bombardament)
5th Bomber Group (Grupul 5 Bombardament)
6th Bomber / Dive Bomber Group (Grupul 6 Bombardament/picaj)
18th Light Bomber Squadron

Reconnaissance Units

1st Long Range Recon Group (Grupul 1 Recunoaștere Îndepărtată)
2nd Guard Aviation Flotilla
- 1st Guard Group
- 2nd Guard Group

Transport Units

Air Transport Group (Grupul de Aero-Transport)
- 105th Transport Squadron
- 106th Transport Squadron
- 108th Light Transport Squadron - known as Escadrila Albă ("White Squadron")
- 109th Glider Transport Squadron

Liaison Units

111th, 112th, 113th, 115th, 116th Liaison Squadrons (Escadrile de Legătură)

Cold War

Organization on 12 September 1956 - Order No. CL 00430

Territorial Antiaircraft Defense Command (Comandamentul Apararii Antiaeriene a Teritoriului)
- 23rd Fighter Aviation Division (Divizia 23 Aviație Vânătoare) – Otopeni
  - 206th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Regimentul 206 Aviație Vânătoare) – Otopeni Airdrome; 86th Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
  - 125th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Siliștea Gumești Airdrome; 49th Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
  - 172nd Fighter Aviation Regiment – Mihail Kogălniceanu Airdrome; 57th Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
- 66th Fighter Aviation Division – Craiova
  - 158th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Craiova Airdrome; 67th Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
  - 226th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Deveselu Airdrome; 91st Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
  - 227th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Craiova Airdrome; 34th Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
- 97th Fighter Aviation Division – Giarmata
  - 294th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Giarmata Airdrome; 93rd Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
  - 135th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Caransebeș Airdrome; 37th Fighter Aviation Regiment from January 1959
- 68th Assault Aviation Division (Divizia 68 Aviație Asalt)
- 239th Bombardment Aviation Regiment (Regimentul 239 Aviație Bombardament) – Otopeni Airdrome
- 282nd Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (Regimentul 282 Aviație Cercetare) – Târgșoru Nou Airdrome

On 27 February 1960, several regiments and the Aviation Divisions were disbanded. The following fighter units remained:

49th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment – Alexeni Airdrome; moved to the Ianca Airdrome in 1965
57th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Mihail Kogălniceanu Airdrome
67th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment – Craiova Airdrome
86th Fighter Aviation Regiment – Cocargeaua Airdrome
91st Fighter Aviation Regiment – Deveselu Airdrome
93rd Fighter Aviation Regiment – Giarmata Airdrome

Other units

Aerostation Units

WW1

1st Aerostation Company (Compania 1 Aerostație)
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Aerostation Companies

Interwar

Grupul de Aerostație București
Regimentul 1 Aerostație București-Pantelimon

Ground units

16th Air Defense Division
34th Air Defense Division
1st Surface-to-air Missiles Brigade
11th Surface-to-air Missiles Regiment
70th Aviation Engineer Regiment
74th Patriot Regiment
85th Signal Battalion

Bibliography

Antoniu, Dan (2019). "Emanoil Ionescu "Pipițu" (1893-1949)". Aviația clujeană (PDF) (in Romanian). Cluj-Napoca: Casa Cărții de Știință. ISBN 9786061715053.
Avram, Valeriu; Armă, Alexandru (2018). Aeronautica română în Războiul de Întregire națională 1916-1919 (in Romanian). Editura Vremea. ISBN 978-973-645-853-8.
Avram, Valeriu (2008). "Campania din Basarabia (ianuarie – iulie 1918)" (PDF). Buletinul Arhivelor Militare Române (in Romanian). No. 40/2008. pp. 47–50. ISSN 1454-0924.
Pană, Viorel (December 2019). "Aeronautica Română în apărarea frontierelor Marii Uniri - 1919" (PDF). Străjer în calea furtunilor (in Romanian). No. 26. Buzău: EditGraph. p. 40. ISSN 1843-4045.
Sandachi, Paul (2001). Aviația de luptă reactivă în România: 1951 - 2001. Muzeul Aviației.
"Romanian Royal Aeronautics | Units". Retrieved 20 November 2023.
"Unitați de luptă dotate cu IAR 80/81". iar80flyagain.org (in Romanian). 2022-05-29.

External links

Romanian Air Force
Formations and units	Air bases Squadrons Other units
Equipment	List of Romanian Air Force aircraft
Personnel	Officer ranks List of WWI flying aces List of WWII flying aces