The Romanian government signed an agreement with the U.S. Army to purchase three more Raytheon [RTN] Patriot air and missile defense systems, the company said Thursday.
Romania previously brought its first system under contract in May, procured through the Defense Department’s foreign military sales (FMS) program. It is repeating the process here, transferring funds to the U.S. for the American government to buy the systems as FMS.
Romania first signed a letter of Offer and Acceptance agreement with the U.S. Army to buy Patriot systems in 2017 (Defense Daily, Nov. 29, 2017). That agreement says Romania will receive the Patriot Configuration-3+ as well as an undisclosed amount of GEM-T and Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC)-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors.
The agreements do not disclose how much the Patriot systems are worth before moving to FMS negotiations.
Raytheon produces the GEM-T while Lockheed Martin [LMT] makes the PAC-3 MSE.
These four Patriots are matching the Romanian Air Force’s plan to buy four total units. Raytheon said all four Romania Patriot systems will be newly built.
“Romania’s Patriot fire units will have the same hardware and software suite as the U.S. Army’s Patriot fire units. This will enhance Romania’s ability to train with the U.S. Army and other NATO allies,” Michelle DeMaio, Raytheon’s Romania Patriot program manager, said in a statement.
Romania is the 14th international and fifth European country to field the Patriot after Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain.