The Romanian Naval Forces () is the principal naval branch of the Romanian Armed Forces and operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860.

History

thumb|left|[[Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the founder of the Romanian Navy]]

The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flotilla on the Danube. After the unification of Wallachia and Moldavia, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the ruling Domnitor of the Romanian Principalities, decided on 22 October 1860 by order no. 173 to unify the navies into a single flotilla, the Danube Flotilla Corps. Officers were initially sent to Brest Naval Training Centre in France, as the Military School in Bucharest did not have a naval section. The next ship to enter service with the Romanian Navy was the spar torpedo boat in 1875. These ships represented the Romanian Flotilla during the War of Independence.

Romanian Navy during the War of Independence

thumb|right|"Fulgerul" (The Lightning) gunboat, built in 1873 at [[Toulon and armed in the following year at Galați, was the first military ship to have sailed under Romanian flag in maritime waters.]]

During the War of Independence, the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish war, the Romanian Navy sailed under the Russian flag. The riverine base was at Galați, while the maritime base was at Constanța, which was by then part of Romania.

Creation of the Romanian Black Sea Fleet

The Romanian Black Sea Fleet was founded in the summer of 1890, 10 years after Romania acquired its first sea-going warship: the gunboat . The newly created division consisted of the small protected cruiser , the training ship , the three Smeul-class torpedo boats, and the forementioned Grivița.

Involvement in the Potemkin mutiny

thumb|Potemkin at anchor with the Romanian flag hoisted on her mast, Constanța, July 1905

On 2 July 1905, during the mutiny of the , the Romanian protected cruiser engaged the as the latter was trying to sneak into the Romanian port of Constanța. Elisabeta fired two warning shots, first a blank charge then an explosive charge, forcing the torpedo boat to retreat. Later that day, Potemkin and Ismail left Romanian waters. During the night of 7 July, however, Potemkin returned to the Romanian port, this time agreeing to surrender to the Romanian authorities in exchange for the latter giving asylum to the crew. On the noon of 8 July, Captain Negru, the commander of the port, came aboard the Potemkin and hoisted the Romanian flag before allowing the warship to enter the inner harbor. On 10 July, after negotiations with the Romanian Government, Potemkin was handed over to Imperial Russian authorities and taken to Sevastopol.

Romanian Navy during World War I

thumb|right|The protected cruiser Elisabeta (Elizabeth), built in 1888 by [[Armstrong Whitworth|Armstrong]]

After the War of Independence, two naval rearmament programs were proposed for the Black Sea flotilla. The 1899 program called for six coastal battleships, four destroyers and twelve torpedo boats. while the battleship Potemkin was returned 1 day after being acquired. The 1912 naval program envisioned six 3,500-ton light cruisers, twelve 1,500-ton destroyers and a submarine. The protected cruiser had guarded the mouths of the river Danube during the Second Balkan War, but she was disarmed when World War I began. Her armament was emplaced on the bank of the Danube River to protect against possible attacks by Austro-Hungarian river monitors, and she remained in Sulina for the duration of the war.

The Danube Flotilla was more modern, and consisted of four river monitors (Lascăr Catargiu, , Ion C. Brătianu and Alexandru Lahovari) and eight British-built torpedo boats. The main success of the war was the mining of an Austro-Hungarian river monitor. Four gunboats were purchased from the French Navy: Stihi, Dumitrescu, Lepri and . Another gunboat of the same class was bought for spares. These warships were to be built locally at the Galați shipyard, where a new dry dock was developed.

The anti-aircraft escort minelayer was laid down at the Galați shipyard in August 1938, launched in June 1939 and commissioned during the first half of 1941. She replaced the planned cruiser as the largest warship yielded by the 1937 program. She was employed in minelaying operations as well as convoy escort missions. Her main armament consisted of 10.5 cm SK C/32 naval guns, much like the German anti-aircraft cruisers and . Her sister ship, Cetatea Albă, was laid down in 1939, but abandoned at an early stage. Her construction was transferred to Germany and in 1940 she was completed by the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. Cetatea Albă had the same standard displacement and top speed as her sister. It is not known, however, if her armament consisted of more than two 102 mm dual-purpose main guns, two 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and 135 mines.

Two of the three planned submarines were laid down at the Galați shipyard in 1938, launched in May 1941 and commissioned in May 1943. The first one was , a 620-ton attack submarine armed with one 105 mm deck gun, one 37 mm anti-aircraft gun and six 533 mm torpedo tubes (4 bow and 2 stern). Her smaller sister ship, Rechinul, was a 585-ton minelaying submarine armed with one 20 mm anti-aircraft gun, four 533 mm torpedo tubes and 40 mines. The third planned submarine was replaced by five Italian CB midget submarines, commissioned in late 1943. The two minelayers were acquired in 1941.

Three of the ten planned motor torpedo boats were built by Vospers in the United Kingdom and acquired in 1940. They were named Viforul, and Vijelia. Six more MTBs, of the Power type, were built locally as the class. They were laid down in 1939 and commissioned in 1943. The planned number of MTBs was exceeded in August 1943, when seven Italian MAS were also commissioned. These were followed by four 65-ton German S-boats in August 1944, each armed with two 500 mm torpedo tubes.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Warships envisioned by the 1937 program

!Warships acquired until 23 August 1944

|-

|1 cruiser || 1 minelayer/escort ship

|-

|4 destroyers || 4 escort minesweepers (commissioned postwar)

|-

|3 submarines || 2 submarines (plus 5 midget submarines)

|-

|2 minelayers || 2 minelayers

|-

|10 MTBs || 20 MTBs

|}

World War II and postwar

thumb|left|NMS Delfinul, the only Axis submarine in the Black Sea in 1941, acted mainly as a "[[fleet in being|ship-in-being" due to its obsolescence and sank only one unescorted merchant ship.]]

In 1941, the Royal Romanian Navy had four destroyers (Mărășești, Mărăști, Regele Ferdinand and Regina Maria), one submarine (Delfinul), two minelayers (Amiral Murgescu and Cetatea Albă, also employed as a destroyer escorts), three auxiliary minelayers, three motor torpedo boats (Viforul, Vijelia, and ), three gunboats, fifteen small auxiliary vessels and twenty seaplanes. By comparison, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet had a battleship, three medium cruisers, three light cruisers, three flotilla leaders, eight modern destroyers, five old destroyers, two large torpedo boats, 47 submarines and many other auxiliary and small vessels.

The two Regele Ferdinand-class destroyers were the most powerful surface units available to the Axis powers during the naval war in the Black Sea but were mostly used for convoy escort. The Romanian-built minelayer/destroyer escort Amiral Murgescu and the three auxiliary minelayers of the Romanian Navy played an important role in the defence of Constanța in 1941 and later in securing the merchant convoy routes to the Bosphorus and the supply routes to Odessa and Sevastopol. Mines were the main cause of Soviet submarine losses in the Black Sea naval war. Wartime additions to the fleet included 3 KFK naval trawlers and 3 landing craft of the MFP type.

The Royal Romanian Navy was involved in the evacuation of Axis forces from Crimea in 1944. The Romanian naval commander, Rear Admiral Horia Macellariu, was awarded the German Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross after Operation 60,000, the contingency plan for the evacuation of Crimea. Until King Michael's Coup, the Romanian Navy retreated behind the protection of the coastal mine barrages and anti-aircraft defences of Constanța as the Soviet Air Force began to launch heavy air attacks. On the capitulation of Romania in August 1944, the German warships were ordered to leave Romanian harbours. However, when the Soviet minesweeper T-410 Vzryv, accompanied by Amiral Murgescu, was sunk by a German submarine, the Soviet Navy accused the Royal Romanian Navy of betrayal and seized all vessels using this excuse on 5 September 1944. By this late stage of the war, only one destroyer (Regina Maria), one leader (Mărășești), two gunboats (Dumitrescu and Ghiculescu), one minelayer (Amiral Murgescu) and three motor torpedo boats were still operational. The rest of the warships were in repairs after the evacuation of Crimea and the Soviet air attacks of the preceding couple of months or had been relegated to training duties. The Soviet Navy moved all Romanian warships to Caucasian ports. They were not returned until after the war. The older vessels were received in September 1945, while the more modern ones (such as the Regele Ferdinand class) were kept by the Soviet Black Sea Fleet until the early 1950s. A number of warships were never returned.

The largest Romanian warship loss of the entire war was the accidental sinking of the gunboat Lepri. The gunboat ran into a Romanian mine laid by the minelayer Aurora near Sulina in January 1941, when hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Axis had not begun. While the Royal Romanian Navy had light losses throughout the war, the state merchant navy was practically non-existent by late 1944: every ship of the SMR was sunk or damaged by the Soviet Navy and Air Force because of the light Romanian and German forces in the Black Sea that were unable to provide adequate protection.

The following is a list of battles and operations of the World War II Black Sea Campaign involving the Royal Romanian Navy:

  • Raid on Constanța
  • Operation München
  • Action of 9 July 1941
  • Siege of Odessa (1941)
  • Crimean Campaign
  • Operation Achse
  • Crimean Offensive

The Romanian Naval Forces were reorganized during the Soviet occupation of Romania as the Romanian People's Navy. Under the Romanian People's Navy, the ship prefix "Nava Majestăţii Sale" (NMS) designation (or “His/Her Majesty's Ship”) that was given to each ship under the Romanian Royal Navy was abolished.

World War II Romanian Black Sea Fleet warships

Romanian naval forces in the Black Sea consisted of four destroyers, four torpedo boats, eight submarines, three minelayers, one submarine tender, three gunboats and one training ship.

{| role="presentation" class="wikitable"

! style="text-align: left;"|Vessel

! style="text-align: left;"|Origin

! style="text-align: left;"|Type

! style="text-align: left;"|Notes

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;|Destroyers

|-

|

|

| Destroyer

| Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1920

|-

|

|

| Destroyer

| Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1920

|-

|

|

| Destroyer

| Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1930

|-

|

|

| Destroyer

| Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1930

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;|Torpedo boats

|-

|

|

| Torpedo boat

| Built in Austria-Hungary during World War I

|-

|

|

| Motor torpedo boat

| Built in the United Kingdom, acquired in 1940

|-

|

|

| Motor torpedo boat

| Built in the United Kingdom, acquired in 1940

|-

|

|

| Motor torpedo boat

| Built in the United Kingdom, acquired in 1940

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;|Minelayers

|-

|

|

| Minelayer/Seaplane tender

| Built in the United Kingdom in 1898

|-

|

|

| Minelayer/Escort ship

| Built at the Galați shipyard in Romania between 1938 and 1941

|-

|

|

| Minelayer/Gunboat

| Built in France during the second half of World War I

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;|Submarine tenders

|-

|

|

| Submarine tender

| Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy between 1927 and 1931

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;|Gunboats

|-

|

|

| Gunboat

| Built in France during the second half of World War I

|-

|

|

| Gunboat

| Built in France during the second half of World War I

|-

|

|

| Gunboat

| Built in France during the second half of World War I

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;|Training ships

|-

|

|

| Training ship

| Built in Germany for the Romanian Navy in 1938

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|Submarines

|-

|

|

| Submarine

| Built in Italy for the Romanian Navy, entered service in 1936

|-

| Rechinul

|

| Submarine

| Built at the Galați shipyard in Romania between 1938 and 1943

|-

|

|

| Submarine

| Built at the Galați shipyard in Romania between 1938 and 1943

|-

| CB-1

|

| Midget submarine

| Acquired in late 1943 after the Italian surrender

|-

| CB-2

|

| Midget submarine

| Acquired in late 1943 after the Italian surrender

|-

| CB-3

|

| Midget submarine

| Acquired in late 1943 after the Italian surrender

|-

| CB-4

|

| Midget submarine

| Acquired in late 1943 after the Italian surrender

|-

| CB-6

|

| Midget submarine

| Acquired in late 1943 after the Italian surrender

|}

List of enemy warships sunk by the Royal Romanian Navy during World War II

{| role="presentation" class="wikitable"

! style="text-align: left;"|Vessel

! style="text-align: left;"|Navy

! style="text-align: left;"|Notes

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|Destroyers

|-

| Moskva

|

| The Soviet Leningrad-class destroyer was sunk on 26 June 1941 during the Raid on Constanța by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers , Regele Carol I and Aurora

|-

! colspan="6" style="background:#f9f9f9;"|Submarines

|-

| Shch-206

|

| The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk with depth charges near Mangalia by the Romanian torpedo boat Năluca and motor torpedo boats Viforul and Vijelia on 9 July 1941

|-

| M-58

|

| The Soviet M-class submarine was sunk near Constanța on 18 October 1941 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora

|-

| Shch-211

|

| The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Varna on 16 November 1941 by Romanian mines,

|-

| Shch-210

|

| The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Shabla on 12 or 15 March 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia

|-

| Shch-208

|

| The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Constanța on 26 August 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia

|-

| L-24

|

| The Soviet Leninets-class submarine was sunk near Shabla on 15 December 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia or sunk with depth charges by the Romanian flotilla leader on 7 July 1943

|-

| L-6

|

| The Soviet Leninets-class submarine was sunk with depth charges between Constanța and Sevastopol by the Romanian gunboat Ghiculescu supported by the German submarine chaser UJ-104 on 18 or 21 April 1944

|}

Command, control and organisation

thumb|right|The Fleet Command building in [[Constanța]]

thumb|right|[[Mircea cel Bătrân Naval Academy|"Mircea cel Bătrân" Naval Academy in Constanța]]

thumb|[[P-15 Termit|4K51 Rubezh anti-ship missile launching system at Capu Midia firing range]]

thumb|[[IAR 330 Puma Naval]]

thumb|Regele Ferdinand frigate is the current flagship of the Romanian Navy.

The Romanian Navy is organized in one Frigate Flotilla and one Riverine Flotilla. Equipment includes two Type 22 frigates, one Mărășești class frigate, four corvettes (two Tetal-I and two Tetal-II), three Tarantul-I missile corvettes, one minelayer, four minesweepers, one minehunter, three Mihail Kogălniceanu class river monitors, five Smârdan class riverine armored patrol boats and other small craft and auxiliary ships.

As of 2022, ca. 6,800 men and women serve in the Romanian Navy.

  • Naval Component Command
  • Fleet Command „Viceamiral Vasile Urseanu”, in Constanța
  • 56th Frigate Flotilla „Contraamiral Horia Macellariu” (Mărășești, Regele Ferdinand and Regina Maria), in Constanța
  • 130th Logistic Support Ship Divizion (Croitor class and Stan Tug 1606 ships), in Constanța
  • Special Unmanned Systems Divizion (Shield AI MQ-35 V-BAT)
  • 256th Naval Helicopter Group (IAR 330 Puma Naval helicopters), in Tuzla
  • 150th Missile Fast Patrol Boat Divizion (Tarantul-I missile boats), in Mangalia
  • 50th Corvette Divizion, in Mangalia
  • Admiral Petre Bărbuneanu-class corvettes (Tetal-I)
  • Rear-Admiral Eustațiu Sebastian-class corvettes (Tetal-II)
  • 146th MCM Divizion (Musca class minesweepers and the Cosar minelayer), in Constanța
  • 508th Coastal Defence Missile Divizion (4K51 Rubezh missile), in Mangalia
  • Coastal Defence Missile Section with 4 launchers
  • 585th CBRN defense company
  • 67th Gunboats Divizion „Comandor Virgil Alexandru Dragalina” (Mihail Kogălniceanu-class and Smârdan-class)
  • River monitors Section I, in Brăila
  • Armored Patrol Boat Section II, in Brăila
  • 88th River Patrol Boat Divizion „Amiral Gheorghe Sandu” (VB 76 class)
  • River Patrol Boat Section I, in Brăila
  • River Patrol Boat Section II, in Tulcea
  • 131st Logistic Support Ship Divizion (Lupeni class River tugboats)
  • Logistic Support Ship Section I, in Brăila
  • Logistic Support Ship Section II, in Tulcea
  • 307th Marine Infantry Regiment „Heracleea” in Babadag
  • Regiment Command
  • Marine Infantry Battalion
  • Combat Support Battalion
  • Logistics Company
  • Naval Logistics Base „Pontica", in Constanța
  • Command River Ship „MUREȘ”
  • 129th Special and Logistic Support Ship Divizion, in Mangalia
  • 338th Naval Technical Maintenance Center
  • 335th Logistic Support Group, in Mangalia
  • 305th Mixed Depot, in Mangalia
  • 329th Logistic Section, in Brăila
  • 319th Mixed Sector, in Galați
  • 330th Logistic Support Group, in Constanța
  • 340th Mixed Depot, in Murfatlar
  • 325th Logistic Support Group, in Tulcea
  • 342nd Mixed Depot „Ion Jalea”, in Codru
  • 278th Mixed Sector, in Slava Cercheză
  • Distinct Specialised Structures
  • Diving Center, in Constanța
  • 175th Combat Divers Divizion „Comandor Constantin Scarlat”, in Constanța
  • Combat and Incursion Divers
  • EOD divers
  • River divers
  • 176th Deep Sea Divers Divizion, in Constanța
  • Underwater Research Laboratory
  • Hyperbaric Laboratory
  • Combat Diver Logistics Support Ship „Midia”
  • Diving Support Vessel „Grigore Antipa”
  • Diver Support and Intervention Vessel „Grozavul”
  • Diving Patrol Boat „Saturn”
  • Diving Patrol Boat „Venus”
  • Naval Forces IT and Cyber Defence Center
  • Naval Forces Training, Simulation, Evaluation and War Games Center, in Constanța
  • Maritime Hydrographic Directorate „Comandor Alexandru Cătuneanu”, in Constanța
  • Mine Warfare Data Center – M.W.D.C.
  • Naval Medical Center, in Constanța
  • 110th Communication and Information Systems Center „Viceamiral ing. Grigore Marteş”, in Mamaia-Sat
  • Naval Forces Support Group „Ovidius”, in Constanța
  • 301st Military Police Company
  • Security Company
  • Support Company
  • National Museum of the Romanian Navy, in Constanța
  • Training
  • "Mircea cel Bătrân" Naval Academy, in Constanța
  • 306th Training and Military Operations Support Ship Divizion
  • Training Ship Mircea
  • Training Ship Constanța
  • "Vice Admiral Constantin Bălescu" Naval Interarm Training School, in Mangalia
  • "Admiral Ion Murgescu" Navy Petty Officer School, in Constanța
  • National Military College „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, in Constanța

Bases

As of 2011, the naval bases are in:

  • Constanța – home of the frigate flotilla.
  • Mangalia – home of the corvette squadron.
  • Tulcea – home of the Smârdan (Brutar-II) class river patrol monitors.
  • Brăila – home of the Mihail Kogălniceanu class river patrol monitors and the VB 141 class small river patrol boats.

thumb|right|Soldiers from the 307th Marine Infantry Regiment disembark from a Dutch landing ship at Vadu beach during a military exercise

The 307th Marine Infantry Regiment () is the coastal defence unit of the Romanian Navy. The unit was formed in the mid-1970s for the defence of the Danube Delta and Romanian Black Sea shore. It was initially located at 2 Mai village near Mangalia, but since 1975 the Marine Battalion was moved to Babadag, Tulcea County. "The 307th Marine Infantry Regiment is destined to carry out military operations in an amphibious river and lagoon environment, the security of objectives in the coastal area, the Danube Delta and the support of local authorities in case of a civil emergency." Its base is near Babadag military training range and is subordinated to the Riverine Flotilla.

The battalion is organized into infantry, reconnaissance, sniper, mortars, anti-tank artillery, engineers, communications, logistic and naval support units. Standard equipment includes PA md. 86 assault rifles, PM md. 64 light machine guns, Md. 66 machine guns, 60/82/120 mm mortars, AG-7 and AG-9 launchers, 76 mm Md. 82 mountain howitzers, 11 ABC-79M and 3 TABC-79M armoured personnel carriers.

Equipment

Sea Fleet

For the river fleet and auxiliary vessels see List of active Romanian Navy ships.

{| border="1" class="wikitable"

!Name!!Type!!Class!!Origin!!Details

|-

! colspan="5"| Submarine

|-

|S-521 Delfinul

|Conventional Submarine

|Kilo

|

|Not operational; used for dockside training

|-

! colspan="5"| Frigates

|-

|F-111 Mărășești

|Multipurpose Frigate

|Mărășești

|

|

|-

|F-221 Regele Ferdinand

|Multipurpose Frigate

|Type 22

|

| Ex-HMS Coventry

|-

|F-222 Regina Maria

|Multipurpose Frigate

|Type 22

|

| Ex-HMS London

|-

! colspan="5"| Corvettes

|-

|Cvt 263 Vice-Amiral Eugeniu Roșca

|Multipurpose corvette

|Tetal-I

|

|

|-

|Cvt 260 Amiral Petre Bărbuneanu

|Multipurpose corvette

|Tetal-I

|

|

|-

|Cvt 264 Contraamiral Eustațiu Sebastian

|Multipurpose corvette

|Tetal-II

|

|

|-

|Cvt 265 Contraamiral Horia Macellariu

|Multipurpose corvette

|Tetal-II

|

|

|-

! colspan="5"| Missile corvette

|-

|NPR 188 Zborul

|Missile corvette

|Tarantul class

|

|

|-

|NPR 189 Pescărușul

|Missile corvette

|Tarantul class

|

|

|-

|NPR 190 Lăstunul

|Missile corvette

|Tarantul class

|

|

|-

! colspan="5"| Mine Warfare

|-

|DM-24 Lt. Remus Lepri

|Minesweeper

|Musca

|

|Transferred to the Naval Forces Training School in Mangalia on 1 June 2023.

|-

|DM-25 Lt. Lupu Dinescu

|Minesweeper

|Musca

|

|

|-

|DM-29 Lt. Dimitrie Nicolescu

|Minesweeper

|Musca

|

|8 September 2022 contacted floating rogue mine some 20 N.M. north east of Constanța, in the Black Sea, and suffered mine explosion hit in the aft area, resulting in a small-sized hull breach. Navy ship Grozavul was sent to tow minesweeper to Constanța.

|-

|DM-30 Slt. Alexandru Axente

|Minesweeper

|Musca

|

|

|-

|M270 Sublocotenent Ion Ghiculescu

|Minehunter

|Sandown class

|

| Ex-HMS Blyth

|-

|M271 Căpitan Constantin Dumitrescu

|Minehunter

|Sandown class

|

| Ex-HMS Pembroke

|-

|PM-274 Viceamiral Constantin Bălescu

|Minelayer

|Cosar

|

|

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:7%;"|Model

! style="text-align:center;"|Origin

! style="text-align:center;"|Type

! style="text-align:center;"|Variant

! style="text-align:center;"|Numbers

! style="text-align:center; width:45%;"|Details

|-

|IAR 330 || || Maritime helicopter|| Puma Naval

! 3

| Include the SOCAT upgrade package; the Navy Pumas also have flotation gear fitted under the nose and main undercarriage fairings. Currently operated from Navy frigates for search and rescue, medevac, maritime surveillance missions and ASW.

|-

|H215M

|

|Maritime helicopter

|Cougar Naval

!2 (on order)

|The naval version of the H215M is powered by two Turbomeca Makila 1A1 turboshaft engines. This version is mainly used for Anti-surface unit warfare (ASUW), fitted with Marte-ER missiles; Anti-submarine warfare (ASW), fitted with a variable-depth sonar and torpedoes; Search and rescue; and Sea patrols. For deck landing, securing at high sea states, maneuver and traverse this variant can be fitted with ASIST.

|-

|MQ-35A V-BAT

|

|Unmanned aerial vehicle

|

!4 (to be delivered)

| The first four V-BAT drones will be received as donation by the United States. The system is expected to be delivered by the end of 2025. A second phase will follow, in which the Romanian Naval Forces will purchase two additional V-BAT systems (eight drones).

|}

Future equipment

thumb|Romanian Navy's future Turkish-built corvette scale model

The Romanian government plans to acquire new vessels to modernize the Romanian Naval Forces. This plan includes:

  • Buying 4 new ships for the navy. Previously these were to be based on the Sigma 10514 design of Damen Group. The frigates were to be built locally (Damen owns two major shipyards in Romania) and the total deal was estimated to be worth 1.6 billion euros (equivalent to U.S. $1.96 billion). However, the decision to go with Damen Group was repealed in 2017.
  • , acquiring 3 new submarines, which would also be built locally at a Romanian shipyard. In 2022, Romania signed a letter of intent with France to purchase s.
  • In July 2019, Naval Group won a €1.2 billion contract, which includes the construction of four new Gowind multi-mission corvettes for the Romanian Navy, as well as a new maintenance center and a training center. Naval Group was due to build the first corvette within three years, while the remaining three corvettes would have been constructed by Constanța Shipyard and delivered before 2026. However, this deal had not been concluded and was cancelled .
  • In March 2025, the CSAT approved the acquisition of a new light multirole corvette. The corvette chosen is a Hisar-class Corvette, already built in Turkey (Contraamiral Roman, former TCG Akhisar), which will be equipped with additional equipment and missiles requested by the Romanian Navy in a Romanian naval yard. The corvette is expected to arrive in June 2026.

Ranks and insignia

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"

|}

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"

|}

References

;Notes

;References

  • Official site of the Romanian Naval Forces (Romanian)