History |
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Royal Romanian Air Force |
List of WWII flying aces |
Aircraft |
List of aircraft of the Romanian Air Force |
Structure |
List of Air bases |
List of squadrons/other units |
Personnel |
Officer ranks |
The Air Arm of the Royal Romanian forces in World War II was officially named the Aeronautica Regala Romana (ARR), or the Romanian Royal Aeronautics, though it is more commonly referred to in English histories as the Forţele Aeriene Regale ale României (Royal Romanian Air Force, FARR), or simply Forţele Aeriene Române (Romanian Air Force). It provided support to land forces, carrying out reconnaissance and mounting air raids between other missions.
The insignia of the FARR was a yellow cross (Michael the Brave cross) in the fuselage and upper and lower wings, and the national colours on the tail, with a yellow engine cowling and vertical band on the fuselage. It was later changed at tricolor (red-yellow-blue) roundels on the fuselage and wings, and a tricolor band on the tail.
FARR flew aircraft from Germany and Italy, with their own and other foreign aircraft, as well as captured enemy aircraft. The Romanian Air Force fought against the Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierö (Hungarian Air Force) during the Hungarian annexation of Transylvania. The most basic unit of their formations was the squadron (Grup). The Romanian Air Force fought alongside the Luftwaffe during the advance into the Ukraine and Crimea, until the Battle of Stalingrad, when the Southern Luftwaffe Command was installed in Bucharest. It also carried out some reconnaissance and patrol missions over the Black Sea alongside Bulgarian units. The Romanian Air Force was tasked with the air defence of the Ploieşti oil installations, and also Bucharest against Allied air raids, and to protect Axis convoys in the Black Sea. These units fought against the USAAF and RAF during their raids against Romania.