June 6 (SeeNews) - Romania's defence minister Mihai Fifor asked parliament to endorse the spending of 861 million euro ($1.0 billion) on projects for acquiring military vehicles and upgrading of IAR-99 trainer aircraft, local media reported on Wednesday.
The larger project envisages the purchase of 3,385 armoured multi-purpose vehicles for an estimated price of 737 million euro, news agency Mediafax quoted Mihai Fifor as saying in a letter to parliament.
The vehicles are expected to be delivered during the period 2018-2027.
The other project envisages the upgrade of Romania's 21 IAR-99 trainer aircraft to the IAR-99 Super Soim configuration. The estimated value of the project is 124 million euro.
Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, plans to spend 9.8 billion euro until 2026 to boost its defence capabilities.
($ = 0.8499 euro)