BELFAST — German manufacturer Rheinmetall announced today that it has finalized contracts with Romania worth €5.7 billion ($6.6 billion) covering nearly 300 Lynx combat vehicles, Skyranger air defense systems, medium-caliber ammunition and naval vessels.
The spate of new orders, amounting to the largest international contracts package in the company’s recent history, sit under the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program and were awarded by Romania’s Directorate General for Armaments on May 29, according to a statement.
“To fulfil the orders, Rheinmetall will significantly expand its existing capacities in Romania, which have been in place for many years, and will also ensure technology transfer,” it noted, adding that it is “set to invest several hundred million euros” in the south-eastern European nation. Deliveries are slated to run from 2028 to 2030.
The list of new equipment covers 298 Lynx vehicles, most of which will be armored personnel carriers, accompanied by other reconnaissance, command post and medical variants; an undisclosed number of Skyranger air defense systems; as well as medium-caliber ammunition for air defense and armored personnel carriers. Rounding off the package are two offshore patrol and two diver support vessels.
Romania is due to become the second Lynx operator on NATO’s eastern flank after Hungary’s 2020 order of 218 vehicles valued at more than €2 billion.
Announcement of the Romanian mega order as a whole comes after Bucharest said in September that it would benefit from a SAFE allocation of €16.68 billion, noting at the time that the funding would go toward a series of “eligible projects” including ground-based air defense systems, air surveillance radars, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, combat and support ships, missiles and drones.
Behind Poland, Romania is the second largest beneficiary of the €150 billion SAFE scheme, which offers EU member states loans to bolster defense spending and finance high profile acquisitions.