Romania is celebrating 106 years since the Great Union, and traditionally December 1 is marked in Bucharest with a military parade under the Arch de Triumph. Over 2,500 servicemen and specialists from the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Romanian Security Service, as well as foreign soldiers, will march in the capital on Sunday, along with over 190 pieces of technical equipment and 45 aircraft that will fly overhead.
For the first time, the new Bayraktar TB2 combat drones purchased in Romania will participate in the parade, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Moreover, a Bayraktar drone is expected to fly over the area above Herastrau Park and will broadcast live images of the parade from an altitude of about 1,500 meters, weather permitting.
At the same time, exhibition stands with military equipment are located in the area of the Arc de Triomphe. They can be visited after the official ceremony. The military parade will begin on Sunday at 10:00 and will end shortly after 12:00.
The Romanian Army participates in the National Day Military Parade with a series of new equipment and military equipment recently acquired in recent years and recently entered into operation by the Romanian Armed Forces, according to MApN.
The star of the 2024 parade will be the Bayraktar TB-2 combat drone, which will not only participate in the parade, but one of the aircraft will fly over the Casa Presei – Parcul Herăstrău area and will broadcast live video images from an altitude of 1,500 meters.
Other new equipment that will participate in the parade: HIMARS missile systems, Patriot anti-aircraft system, new JLTV armored fighting vehicles of Special Forces, Piranha 5 armored personnel carriers in all its configurations, F-16 aircraft recently purchased from Norway.
Also, foreign soldiers from NATO countries that have sent contingents to the alliance battle group in our country are also participating in this year’s parade. France comes with the famous Leclerc battle tanks, 8×8 armored vehicles and the Caesar self-propelled howitzer, and Belgium, Portugal and Poland each present their armored combat vehicles.
The National Military Parade dedicated to the National Day of Romania takes place at the Arc de Triomphe, an emblematic building of the Capital, and begins with the arrival of the country’s president at 11:00. During the singing of the National Anthem, as a sign of homage and respect for the great celebration of all Romanians, twenty-one cannon shots will be fired by the “Salve” battery of the 30th Guards Brigade “Mihai Viteazul”.
The salvos are fired by the brigade’s soldiers with 76 mm caliber cannons, model 1942, using, of course, maneuver ammunition. The President of Romania will then lay a wreath in memory of the Romanian heroes who have fallen on the battlefields throughout time.
The parade will then begin with the marching bands on foot. One by one, soldiers from different units, wounded and veterans will march under the Arc de Triomphe, as well as detachments of foreign soldiers and detachments of gendarmes, firefighters, police and other force structures of the Romanian state. Detachments from the Special Forces, the Military Intelligence Brigade, detachments from the Republic of Moldova, the 10th Mountain Division of the US and other multinational detachments will march. The parade will also feature soldiers from the Battle Group led by France in Romania, with soldiers from North Macedonia, Poland and Portugal.
The flight device will be opened by an IAR-330 Puma helicopter that will carry the tricolor flag. Then, in turn, formations of three IAR-330 Puma helicopters, three IAR-330 PUMA SOCAT attack helicopters and another three IAR-330 Pumas will follow. After the military helicopters, the SRI SA 365N Dauphin helicopter will fly, three EC-135 helicopters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as two Sikorski Blackhawk S-70M helicopters. Next, three C-27J Spartan military aircraft will follow and then a C-130 Hercules aircraft flanked by two IAR-99 Standard aircraft.
Three IAR-99 Şoim aircraft will then fly over the Arc de Triomphe, followed by one of the two Bombardier Learjet 75 aircraft of the Ministry of Interior. Next come the fighter jet flights – No less than 14 F-16 aircraft will participate in the parade this year as follows: Three F-16 aircraft from the 86th Air Base in Borcea. Three F-16 aircraft from the 71st Air Base in Câmpia Turzii, these aircraft being from the batch of 32 recently purchased from Norway. Four F-16 aircraft from the “Lithuania” detachment that will provide the Joint Air Police Service in Lithuania between April and July 2025. Four F-16 aircraft from the F-16 Training Center in Fetești.