Romania's Ministry of National Defense has requested approval from Parliament to initiate the procurement process for 150 Piranha 5 armored personnel carriers, reports on Romania-insider.com. The cost of purchasing these vehicles is estimated at USD 674 million.
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The signing ceremony took place on March 15, 2022, in the newly established vehicle production facility at UMB in Bucharest. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca, the Minister of National Defence, Vasile Dancu, the Minister of Economy, Florin Spătaru, as well as the United States Chargé d'affaires to Romania, David Muniz, and GDELS President Alfonso Ramonet (Picture source: GDELS-RO)
The program includes the purchase of 150 Piranha 5 armored personnel carriers, logistical support, and specific training equipment for the Romanian Army's transformation program until 2040. The Permanent Committees of Parliament have decided to send the Ministry's request to the defense committees to prepare the necessary documentation, according to Digi24.
Let us remind that, in January 2018, as part of the Romanian Army’s plans to modernize its legacy wheeled armored vehicle fleet, GDELS signed a contract with the Romanian Ministry of Defence to deliver up to 227 Piranha 5 armored vehicles in six different configurations. With production progressing as planned, over 60 locally produced Piranha 5 vehicles were delivered by GDELS to the Romanian Army after the program was launched.
On March 15th, 2022, General Dynamics European Land Systems’ local company GDELS-Romania (GDELS-RO) signed an agreement for the creation of an industrial consortium with its strategic Romanian partner, C.N. RomArm Uzina Mecanica Bucuresti (UMB), which marks a key milestone for the establishment of a national production capability for wheeled armored vehicles in Romania.
Romanian minister of Defense Angel Tîlvăr stated in a letter to the Parliament: "The program aims to increase the existing number of troop transporters, following the modification of the beneficiary's operational requirements generated by the emergence, starting in 2020, of the new NATO capabilities code and the new minimum NATO capability requirements, which underlie the operationalization of the capability targets assumed by Romania in the NATO defense planning process, respectively, the achieving of objectives set by the Program for the Transformation of the Romanian Army by 2040”.
The estimated costs of the purchase amount to USD 674 million, with real prices varying depending on the economic conditions at the time of signing the procurement contract, as stated by the Ministry of National Defence, Radu Dumitrescu reports. The vehicles will be produced in Romania, according to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between CN Romarm SA - the branch of Societatea Uzina Mecanică Bucureşti SA, and General Dynamics European Land Systems-Mowag GmbH.
As written here above, Romania already purchased 227 Piranha 5 armored personnel carriers for the Land Forces, with a total contract value of approximately EUR 868 million. The first 36 Piranha 5 armored personnel carriers were delivered to the Romanian Army in October 2020.
At BSDA 2018 defense exhibition in Bucharest, GDELS unveiled its Piranha 5 with Romanian components (Picture source: Army Recognition)
