The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Viorel Pana, stated on Friday, during the ceremony of handing out the certificates and badges of the military pilots, graduates of the aviation course at the Aurel Vlaicu Boboc Air Base, that the tense security situation in which the Romanian armed forces find themselves can turn into a window of opportunity, taking into account the fact that the percentage of 2.5% of GDP for Defense will generate new military capabilities that officers could benefit from.

“There is only one desire or condition to access them: aim as high as possible. F16, F35, the new helicopters of the Air Force, Ministry of Internal Affairs helicopters, everything is in preparation and will move quickly. Do not forget that you start your activity in the year when we celebrate 110 years of military aeronautics. 2.5 percent for Defense means a lot of capabilities, it means a relaunch of the F16 programme and a new multirole aircraft hopefully in a few years,” said the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, at the graduation ceremony of the Air Force Base Course – navigators.

During the event, the officers were given their pilots’ licenses and badges for the IAR 99 Standard, IAR-316B and IAK52 aircraft, which culminated with a flyover of the F16 aircraft. The head of this year’s graduates of the Henri Coanda Air Force Academy was Maria Bianca Ianovici, helicopter pilot.

“The first hours of flight, in the helicopter, I was more fascinated by the landscape. After we started piloting, it was terribly difficult and we worked a lot until it became as beautiful as at the beginning. I chose the helicopter because it takes off vertically and goes backwards, the plane can’t,” said Maria Bianca Ianovici.

60 pilots, including 4 girls, officers of the Romanian Air Force, Land Forces, Naval Forces and MAI are this year’s graduates. One of the graduates with the Aviation Basic Course from Boboc will continue to prepare to fly the F16 plane.

“I feel exactly that it is the job and the occupation I want. I am a graduate of the Air Force Academy, class of 2022, and currently I carry out my flying activity at the Boboc Air Base operating the IAR 99 subsonic aircraft. I am in the training programme for the F16 plane, and in the following years I will make the transition either to the country or to the USA. We are at the end of the basic course and I chose fighter aviation,” stated the pilot of the Romanian Air Force, Fusaru Claudiu.