Romanian Naval Aviation

These were followed by native-built aircraft and imports from Italy (flying boats) and Germany (floatplanes), resulting, by the time of the Second World War, in a sizable and active force of over 70 watercraft.

[1] The first Romanian-made floatplanes were versions of the SET 7 biplane, a total of eight being were built for the Romanian Naval Aviation.

The Flotilla was disbanded, and in the organization chart of the Air Force Command of 1950 there was only one seaplane squadron left.

It was deployed at Tuzla Airfield and was an aviation unit which, although not subordinate to the command structures of the Navy, it operationally met important criteria defining a maritime aviation structure: it was located in the immediate vicinity of the Black Sea coast and halfway between the main military ports of Constanța and Mangalia, had helicopters equipped with special equipment for flying over the sea and its missions were carried out mainly in cooperation and support of sea and river ship units.

[1] An important moment is the entry into the service of the navy of the cruiser Muntenia, the largest military ship ever built in Romania.

Desired to be classified as a helicopter carrier, the designers and builders adopted a series of technical solutions to meet this operational requirement.

The ship was fitted with an appropriately sized flight deck and hangar, which was scheduled to house an IAR 330L helicopter, however, the installations and equipment necessary for the embarkation and operation of a helicopter on board the ship had not been carried out at a sufficient technical level.

[1] Things changed radically with Romania's accession to the Partnership for Peace and the desire of joining NATO.

In this context, the frigate Mărășești (former Muntenia) participated for the first time in a multinational naval exercise led by NATO in the Atlantic Ocean.

49 and a detachment belonging to 59th Helicopter Group Tuzla, led by the unit's commander, Paul Constantinescu was embarked on the frigate.

B5/S/966 of 26 April 2006, Grupul 256 Elicoptere (256th Helicopter Group) from Flotila 56 Fregate (56th Frigate Flotilla) operating the IAR 330 Puma Naval was established.