Under the memorandum, Romaero would equip and maintain Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters in Romania, contributing to the development of the local aerospace industry, with a significant economic impact at regional level, Romaero said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Friday.
PZL Mielec will collaborate with Romaero to develop the plan for the construction of the maintenance centre in Bucharest, which will serve the future fleet of Black Hawk multi-role helicopters purchased by the Romanian government as well as those belonging to other operators, for civilian and military missions.
PZL Mielec will offer an initial tranche of twelve Black Hawk multi-role helicopters to Romania's ministry of the interior, as part of the national helicopter endowment programme. The twelve aircraft will be manufactured in Poland, where PZL has already produced helicopters for 17 international customers since 2010.
Building on the agreement signed between US aircraft manufacturer Sikorsky, part of the Lockheed Martin group, and Romaero in March 2018, the new memorandum could help expand the local centre into a regional one, which would upgrade and customize Black Hawk helicopters operating in the wider region of Central and Eastern Europe, according to the statement.
"I am glad to see that this memorandum of understanding creates the conditions needed to put in place implementation of two strategic partnerships that Romania has with the USA and Poland," Romanian minister of economy, energy and business environment Virgil Popescu said.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility helicopter.
US-based Lockheed Martin is a group specializing in the research, development, production and integration of advanced military technology, a leading aerospace builder and the Pentagon's largest aerospace and technological equipment provider.
Established in 1920, Romaero is an aerospace company that integrates two major activities: aerostructure manufacturing and maintenance and repair for civil and military transport aircraft. It is located near Bucharest's Baneasa Airport and employs 772.
Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, plans to spend 9.8 billion euro ($11.6 billion) until 2026 to boost its defence capabilities.
