Romania Submits €10 Billion Military Upgrade Plan to Parliament
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Romania’s defense ministry has asked lawmakers to clear a modernization package worth just over €10 billion. The request, sent earlier this month, covers new air-defense batteries, tracked fighting vehicles, NATO-calibre artillery, air-to-air missiles, and a first batch of Abrams tanks. Lt. Gen. Teodor Incicaș, head of the Armaments Directorate, outlined the numbers in a podcast with the ministry’s own Observatorul Militar on 6 March.
Parliamentary approval is mandatory for any contract above the equivalent of €100 million, so the ministry grouped several projects in a single submission. The three-year war next door has kept public opinion focused on hard power. The request is expected to pass before the summer recess.
The biggest slice – €4.2 billion – goes to short-range and very-short-range air defense (SHORAD / VSHORAD). The plan calls for 41 fire units split this way:
- 16 integrated SHORAD/VSHORAD batteries for the Air Force
- 9 SHORAD and 16 VSHORAD batteries for the Land Forces
Stage I, running 2023-2031, buys six integrated batteries for the Air Force plus six SHORAD and six VSHORAD sets for the army, for about €2.1 billion.
Land combat units come next. Bucharest wants 298 tracked infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) to replace Soviet-era BMP derivatives. The overall program is priced at just under €3 billion. Stage I orders 246 vehicles with spares, simulators, and eight years of support. Deliveries should run into the early 2030s.
Artillery follows the same “two-stage” logic. Five battalions will convert to NATO 155 mm self-propelled howitzers (SPH). Total spend is almost €2 billion. Stage I equips the first three battalions for roughly €1.15 billion, including stocks of base-bleed and precision rounds.
Fighter weapons are also on the list. The ministry seeks nearly 500 missiles for its F-16 fleet:
- 186 AIM-120 AMRAAM for medium-range shots
- 299 AIM-9X Sidewinder for close-in work
Washington cleared the deal last month, and Romania will sign a government-to-government order once parliament says yes.
General Incicaș confirmed that four Patriot systems are already in the country, with three more planned. Two batteries are operational on the Black Sea coast. The next two reach initial capability before mid-year, giving Romania a layered shield that will later mesh with the new SHORAD network.
Heavy armour enters the equation through a battalion of M1A2 Abrams tanks – 54 gun tanks plus 12 support variants. The ministry wants older U.S. Army hulls rebuilt to SEPv3 standard, trimming cost to about €1 billion. If approved, first tanks could roll off U.S. production lines in 2026.
Wheeled armor continues under the Piranha 5 contract. Romania originally ordered 227 vehicles and now plans another 150, all assembled at the modernized Bucharest Mechanical Plant. Local welders, sensor shops, and ballistic glass makers pick up most of the added work.
Small arms are also moving. The ministry wants a new family of 5.56 mm and 7.62 mm assault rifles from 2024 onward, built entirely in Romania. A parallel effort aims to restart domestic production of propellants and explosives after decades of reliance on imports.
Below is a quick snapshot of the headline figures:
- €4.2 bn – 41 SHORAD/VSHORAD systems (Phase I: 18 units)
- €3.0 bn – 298 tracked IFVs (Phase I: 246 vehicles)
- €2.0 bn – 155 mm SPH for five battalions (Phase I: three battalions)
- €611 m – AIM-120 AMRAAM (186 rounds)
- €239 m – AIM-9X Sidewinder (299 rounds)
- €1.0 bn – 54 M1A2 Abrams + 12 derivatives
Funding comes from the defense budget, already set at 2.5 percent of GDP, plus multi-year credits authorized by Parliament in 2021. The ministry stresses that each program includes industrial offsets, local assembly, or both to revive dormant factories and create skilled jobs.
NATO allies welcome the move. U.S. European Command officers say the plan dovetails with regional deterrence needs and will deepen interoperability. Defense attachés from France, Israel, and South Korea have all pitched solutions for the SHORAD and IFV contests, hinting at technology transfers and co-production.
Industry groups inside Romania echo the sentiment but warn about bottlenecks: welders, machinists, and circuit-board technicians are scarce; state plants need fresh capital; and overlapping tenders can strain both government staff and bidders.
Yet the timeline looks firm. The ministry aims to sign at least four major contracts before December, arguing that delays would push deliveries into the next decade and raise costs.
Officials also link the package to Romania’s future F-35 fleet. Parliament authorized the start of negotiations for two squadrons in December 2022. The F-16 stop-gap keeps pilots current on Western avionics until the stealth jets arrive after 2030.
The defence ministry’s proposal now sits with the standing committees on budget and security. Debate is scheduled for early April, with a floor vote expected by month-end.
A government source says coalition leaders have the votes. Opposition parties voice concern about “procurement overload” but admit the threat environment leaves little room to postpone.
If Parliament signs off, Romania will commit itself to the largest re-armament drive since joining NATO in 2004. Contracts would roll out over nine years, anchoring the country’s defense posture well into the 2040s.
WHAT’S NEW – March 2025 Update
Two years on, Parliament’s green light has translated into signed deals, first deliveries, and some fresh requests.
The headline news is artillery. On 9 July 2024, Bucharest inked a $1 billion contract with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace for 54 K9 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and 36 K10 resupply vehicles. Payments stretch over five years; the first batch ships in 2027. Local firms will weld hull sections and machine breech blocks.
Air power also leaped ahead. Romania accepted its first six ex-Norwegian F-16AM/BM fighters – three in November 2023 and three in April 2024. Another trio flew in on 13 December 2024, raising the tally to 15. Remaining aircraft arrive by late 2025, letting the MiG-21 retire for good.
Bigger still, Bucharest signed a Letter of Acceptance on 21 November 2024 for 32 F-35A jets in a package worth roughly $6.5 billion. Payments begin this year; the first stealth fighter reaches Romanian soil in 2031. The deal makes Romania the 20th F-35 customer.
Ground troops can expect brand-new armor. The defense ministry confirmed on 4 May 2025 that it will sign a €2.5 billion contract for 246 tracked IFVs before year-end. Three finalists – Hanwha Redback, Rheinmetall Lynx, and GDELS ASCOD – submitted best-and-final offers in February. The winner will assemble hulls at a revamped plant in Mediaș.
The Abrams programme cleared its biggest hurdle on 9 November 2023 when the U.S. State Department approved a $2.53 billion Foreign Military Sale. Romanian negotiators expect to seal the production contract this summer, aiming for first tanks in 2026 and full battalion readiness by 2028.
Air-defense layers continue to thicken. Raytheon announced on 3 January 2025 a $946 million order for additional Patriot components, bringing Romania’s inventory to seven fire units. Sensors from the first batch tracked Russian Kalibr launches over the Black Sea during NATO drills in February.
The SHORAD/VSHORAD race remains open. Industry sources say Diehl’s IRIS-T SLS, MBDA’s VL-MICA, and Rafael’s SPYDER made the shortlist. Final firing trials at Capu Midia will wrap up by September, and a contract could follow in early 2026.
Budget pressure is real – defence now runs at 2.5 percent of GDP – but the coalition renewed its commitment in the 2025 finance law. An export-credit line from Seoul covers 85 percent of the K9 contract, while U.S. foreign-military-financing offsets part of the F-35 outlay.
Domestic industry shows early dividends. The Bucharest Mechanical Plant added 130 jobs to ramp up Piranha 5 subassemblies, and a munitions plant in Bacău restarted propellant production last October.
Romanian officials say the upgrade drive stays on schedule despite higher prices and a tight labor pool. The next milestone is the IFV award. Once that signature lands, every major line item from the 2023 package will have moved from wthe ish list to the contract.
REFERENCE SOURCES
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqAKvPViNqI
- https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/romania-aims-buy-abrams-tanks-senior-army-official-says-2023-03-07/
- https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2023/11/27/romania-plans-to-spend-2-billion-on-short-range-air-defenses/
- https://t-intell.com/2023/11/24/romanias-shorad-vshorad-tender-requirements-competition/
- https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales/romania-m1a2-abrams-main-battle-tanks
- https://defence-industry.eu/hanwha-aerospace-signs-contract-to-supply-romania-with-k9-and-k10-artillery-systems/
- https://armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/army-news-2024/romania-becomes-10th-country-to-purchase-the-south-korean-k9-thunder-howitzer-in-1-billion-deal
- https://theaviationist.com/2024/11/23/romania-loa-f-35/
- https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/air-warfare/romania-signs-72-billion-deal-to-buy-32-f-35a-jets/
- https://armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2024/norway-delivers-three-more-f-16-jets-to-romania-to-replace-old-mig-21s
- https://thedefensepost.com/2024/12/16/romania-norwegian-f16s/
- https://defence-industry.eu/romania-plans-to-sign-deal-for-over-200-tracked-ifvs-this-year-says-defence-ministry/
- https://armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2025/romania-to-sign-2-5-billion-contract-in-2025-to-equip-up-to-15-battalions-with-modern-infantry-fighting-vehicles
- https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/2025/01/03/rtxs-raytheon-awarded-946-million-contract-to-provide-additional-patriot-air-de
