Romania Orders $1.3bn in French Military Equipment

Romania will strengthen its armed forces by purchasing French military equipment, ordering 12 military helicopters from Airbus and 12 air defense radars from Thales, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced.

Bucharest plans to finance the procurement through the European Union's SAFE (Security Action for Europe) program, launched in May 2025 to strengthen the defense capabilities of member states through a €150bn ($176bn) loan facility.

European countries have been increasing defense spending since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and amid a gradual reduction in US security commitments to Europe. Poland became the first country to make use of the SAFE program in May.

According to the Romanian news outlet Mediafax, the helicopter purchase is valued at €852 million ($1bn), while the radar acquisition is worth €258m ($303m). The combined value of the contracts exceeds €1.1bn ($1.3bn).

(Reuters, bak)