Romanian military analyst, retired colonel Ion Petrescu stated that the country's defense industry lacks long-term strategic vision and fails to negotiate effectively in major arms deals.
He complained that Romania, unlike its neighbors, does not receive sufficient economic and industrial benefits from defense agreements concluded with Western allies. He pointed to the F-16 purchase as an example, highlighting how Poland involved its defense industry in component production, unlike Romania. Petrescu's words are quoted by Defense Romania.
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"Poland acquired the F-16s and received compensation through industrial offsets, creating jobs for Polish workers. We took the F-16s, and as of the date of your show [referring to the Euroatlantica program on local Radio România Actualități], we have not heard any reports from workers who would be involved in the production of components for the F-16 aircraft," Petrescu says.
However, he overlooks the fact that Poland purchased new aircraft directly from the US under a deal with Lockheed Martin, while Romania bought used jets — first 17 from Portugal (in two batches of 12 and 5), and then 32 from Norway, for a relatively modest €388 million. Moreover, repairs and maintenance were to be carried out at the Aerostar aircraft manufacturing company.
Overall, Romania has shown that it can negotiate favorable terms when acquiring weapons from abroad. As an example, last year Bucharest ordered 1,000 Turkish Cobra II armored vehicles.
In selecting an infantry fighting vehicle, Romania has made it clear that, beyond performance characteristics, key factors include the manufacturer’s willingness to localize production and offer compensation agreements. Other examples include the Piranha V and the South Korean K9 self-propelled guns.
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