LONDON – Romania is considering joining France, Belgium, Estonia, Cyprus and Hungary within the Mistral procurement program, to bolster its air defenses and border security against possible Russian aggression.
Over the past week, the safety situation in Romania has change into more turbulent than normal, with the finding of drone debris near the country’s border with Ukraine. The invention comes amid Russian attacks on Ukraine which have taken place near this area.
Bucharest has been trying to increase its air defense capabilities for a while now, particularly through previous and ongoing tenders to buy electronic warfare and counter-drone systems. In recent weeks, the country has turned its attention to Mistral, through which it could obtain the Mistral 3 missile produced by MBDA, a France-based defense firm owned by BAE Systems, Airbus and Leonardo. a Romanian Ministry of Defense source told Defense News.
“MBDA is aware of Romania’s interest in joining this procurement process and is engaged in ongoing discussions with them,” Julien Watelet, an organization spokesperson told Defense News on Sept. 14.
The joint acquisition for the Mistral 3 was launched with the letter of intent signed on June 19 in the course of the Paris Air Show by France, Belgium, Estonia, Cyprus and Hungary. Productio of the Mistral will double to about 40 units a month next yr.
Watelet added that this system may gain advantage from the support of the EU and permit scale economies to be achieved, “as to incentivise member states to acquire defense products jointly while reinforcing the European Defense Technological and Industrial Base competitiveness.”
It stays unclear what number of systems will likely be delivered to every country and the associated fee of those purchases. The French-led project is being overseen by the ministry’s procurement arm Direction Generale de l’Armement on behalf of the partner countries.
The Romanian defense official added that the country can also be open to other proposals and within the strategy of assessing additional C-UAS systems each from local and international manufacturers.
In June, Civitas Systems, a Romanian company specializing in border security systems, was awarded a $8.5 million contract from the federal government to produce an undisclosed variety of counter-drone units through the country’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide selection of topics related to military procurement and international security, and makes a speciality of reporting on the aviation sector. She is predicated in Milan, Italy.