B-52 Stratofortress
This was reported to G4media.ro by multiple sources. According to them, the discussions are informal, at an early stage, and there is no official request yet.
To be approved, such an official request must be confirmed by the Ministry of Defense and approved by the Commission for Defense and Humanitarian Affairs (CSAT). Parliamentary approval may also be required.
Romanian Defense Minister Radu Mirutse, who was contacted by G4Media.ro, declined to comment on this information.
In principle, this option is quite possible. The straight line distance between Romania and Iran is about 2,092 kilometers, while from Bucharest to Tehran is about 1,858 kilometers.
At the same time, US strategic bombers have an intercontinental range: the B-2 Spirit can cover more than 11,000 km without refueling, the B-52H Stratofortress has a combat radius of about 7,200 km (range of more than 16,000 km), and the B-1B Lancer – more than 5,500 km.
Iran, in turn, has an extensive missile arsenal with a range of hundreds to 2,500 km. The basis is ballistic missiles such as Shahab-3 (1,300-2,000 km) and cruise missiles such as Sumar (up to 2,500 km), which are quite capable of both reaching the 57th airbase “Captain-Aviator Constantine Cantacuzino”, also known as Mihail Cogalniceanu base, located near Constanta, and miss by several kilometers towards the Republic of Moldova.
The base’s status as a strategic launching point for U.S. fighter jets gives the United States an irreplaceable geographical advantage, but automatically puts Romania on the map of potential targets for an Iranian retaliatory strike, albeit difficult to reach,” Defense Romania notes.
The portal notes that the Mihail Cogalniceanu base has already functioned as an air bridge for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
