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U.S. State Dept OKs possible sale to Romania of Patriot missile system
The State Department has cleared the sale of seven Patriot missile defense systems for Romania just days after announcing a roadmap forward for landing the system in Poland, defensenews.com informs.
According to reuters.com, the U.S. State Department has approved the possible sale of Patriot missile defense systems worth $3.9 billion to Romania, a Pentagon agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
The prime contractors would be Raytheon Co and Lockheed Martin Corp , the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
Announcing the deal, the agency said: “The proposed sale of the Patriot system will support Romania’s needs for its own self-defense and support NATO defense goals.”
It added: “Romania will use the Patriot missile system to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats. The proposed sale will increase the defensive capabilities of the Romanian military to guard against aggression and shield the NATO allies who often train and operate within Romania’s borders. Romania should have no difficulty absorbing this system into its armed forces.”
The potential sale, which could be worth up to $3.9 billion, covers seven Patriot Configuration 3+ units, complete with radars, control station, antenna, launching stations and power plants.
Also included are 56 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM missiles and 168 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, according to a Tuesday notice posted on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
All announcements from DSCA are subject to congressional approval and then must go through final negotiations with the potential buyer, during which the dollar total often drops from the projected figure.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin will be the prime contractors. There is no timeline for when the work will be completed in the DSCA notification.
Romania requested the Patriot systems back in April. Thirteen countries currently operate the system, with that number expected to grow when Poland completes its purchase. That situation has taken longer than expected, but Poland intends to procure eight systems.
According to newsweek.com, Moscow has previously raised issue with Romania hosting a U.S. missile shield that it said was a threat to Russian security. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned back in May when the Romanian element of the shield was activated that there would be repercussions for the shield, and is unlikely to react well to the U.S.’ missile defense sale to Romania.
“If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security," Putin said at a press conference in May over the shield, in comments carried by Reuters.
“We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us,” he added. "We've been repeating like a mantra that we will be forced to respond... Nobody wants to hear us. Nobody wants to conduct negotiations with us."
The news of the Romania missile defense sale comes as the U.S. deployed its air defense system for the first time in Lithuania as the country and its neighbors look to deter any military incursion from Russia.
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Prime Minister Mihai Tudose stated on Tuesday in Brussels, when referring to the allocation of 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to Defence, that "there are money and opportunities to spend."
"It would be hilarious to include 2 percent in the budget and not spend it. It's the last straw (...) 2 percent was not a commitment just to simply earmark, 2 percent is a commitment with the strategic partners to spend 2 percent. This is why we have to include it, in order to spend it. Obviously, we will have to spend it. It's not that we must, but we need this thing," Tudose stated at the headquarters of the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU.
The head of the Executive mentioned that he expects the National Defence Minister to find "an integrated solution about military solutions."
"There is no problem in terms of resources. Thank God, there are money and opportunities to spend! I expect form the National Defence Minister, the General Staff to find an integrated solution about military solutions," Tudose also stated.