Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has been awarded Romania’s Very Short and Short Range Air Defense (V/SHORAD) acquisition program.
The 1.9-billion-euro ($2.23-billion) contract from the Romanian Ministry of National Defence follows a competitive process carried out by the country’s arms procurement agency.
“After completing a competitive procedure, the contracting authority … communicated the result of the award procedure to the economic operators involved,” a ministry press release stated.
“Following the communications, no appeals were filed, and the award procedure is to be finalized by signing the framework agreement between the contracting authority and the economic operator designated as the winner.”
The procurement was approved by the Romanian parliament in 2020 while the process began in 2023.
Romanian media earlier reported that Rafael was the only competitor left in the competition after the elimination of MBDA and Diehl Defence.
South Korea’s LIG Nex1 was eliminated at an earlier stage.
The specific system to be acquired has not been officially disclosed, but Rafael reportedly offered its Spyder short- and medium-range mobile air defense system for the competition.
The system uses Rafael’s Python-5 or Derby missiles as interceptors with ranges of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and 80 kilometers (50 miles), respectively.
It will be the second-largest deal by an Israeli defense firm after the over $4-billion sale of Israel Aerospace Industries Arrow 3 air defense system to Germany.
A planned replacement for Romania’s aging Hawk air defense system, the Spyder will complement the country’s long-range Patriot system.
To finance the deal, the Romanian government could reportedly utilize European funding instruments such as the Act in Support of Ammunition Production and the European Defence Industry Reinforcement Through Common Procurement Act.
The final contract is expected to be signed soon followed by initial delivery.
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