October 13 (SeeNews) - Romania's economy ministry said on Friday it has signed with the General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) a cooperation memorandum envisaging the joint production of Piranha V armoured vehicles in Romania.
By the end of this year, Romania will order five armoured vehicles, out of a total 227 which are to be delivered as part of the cooperation deal, the ministry said in a press release.
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For its part, GDELS will help reconstruct the production facilities of the Bucharest Mechanical Plant, UMB, and install a production line for the armoured vehicles. Also, 25 of UMB employees will get training at GDEL-Mowag, a business unit of General Dynamics Corporation.
"The agreement signed with GDELS outlines a new sustainable strategic American-Romanian partnership that is in the interest of national defence industry and the army’s development," economy minister Gheorghe Simon said.
In a televised statement on Thursday, defence minister Mihai Fifor said General Dynamics and UMB hope to set up the first production line for Piranha V by the end of next year.
Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, plans to spend a total of 9.8 billion euro ($11.5 billion) until 2026 to boost its defence capabilities, the National Defence Council (CSAT) said in August.
In 2016, Romania's defence spending was 1.48% of GDP. In order to reach the 2%/GDP target, rested by NATO, Romania has added 4.9 billion lei ($1.15 billion/1.07 billion euro) to its 2017 defence budget.
A defence spending target of 2% of GDP was set at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014.
($= 0.8498 euro)