The Romanian government has approved a request from the Ministry of National Defense to initiate the procurement process for PAC-2 GEM-T missiles for the Patriot air defense system. The announcement was made on the official website of the government.
According to the plans, Romania will acquire 200 European-made PAC-2 GEM-T missiles to enhance its ground-based air defense capabilities as part of the main long-range surface-to-air missile (HSAM) program, as stated in the announcement.
The contract for the purchase will be implemented starting in 2024.
Earlier, there was controversy surrounding the first test firings of the Patriot system in Romania. The news portal Observator believes that Romania failed the Patriot system test. According to their information, the launcher lost communication with one of the missiles and another missile was automatically launched. The newspaper Cotidianul notes that the Patriot system, which was delivered from the United States at a significant cost, did not perform as expected and considers it a failure.
However, the press service of the country’s defense headquarters stated that the initial tests of the Patriot system in Romania were successful.
Previously, the Netherlands and Denmark confirmed that the United States approved the shipment of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
