Romania’s Defence Ministry said that it will acquire 200 PAC-2 GEM-T missiles for the Patriot surface-to-air missile system for 1.09 billion euro as part of a larger multinational purchase facilitated by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), according to See News.
The acquisition is part of a $5.5 billion NSPA deal with COMLOG, a joint venture between US-based Raytheon and Germany’s MBDA, to deliver 1,000 Patriot missiles to support Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain, the Defence Ministry said in a press release on Thursday.
“This acquisition demonstrates that the Alliance has adequate solutions that are adapted to the security circumstances we are facing in Eastern Europe with the outbreak of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” Romania’s Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said.
The NSPA contract will support the establishment of a production facility for Patriot missiles in Germany, NATO said in a separate press release.
“This investment shows the strength of transatlantic defence cooperation and NATO’s commitment to keeping our people safe. Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians, cities and towns show how important modern air defences are. Scaling-up ammunition production is key for Ukraine’s security and for ours,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
The multinational purchase was spurred by the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), a NATO project spearheaded by Germany in an effort to create a European air and missile defence system through joint acquisitions.
Four Patriot missile batteries are currently in operation in Romania, with the US State Department clearing the sale of seven systems in 2017 for an estimated $3.9 billion. Four of the seven Patriot systems were paid for, with the fourth becoming operational in 2023.