The first 36 PIRANHA V armoured personnel carriers will leave in the coming days for the final beneficiaries, the Red Scorpions of Craiova, after having successfully passed the qualitative reception stage at the Bucharest Mechanical Plant, states the Minister of Defence, Nicolae Ciuca, on his Facebook page.

"I am confident that they will also pass operational testing and integrate very well into the units of the Land Forces, which badly need a vehicle that will provide them with mobility, increased firepower, but also increased protection when carrying out their missions," Nicolae Ciuca wrote.

He recalls that in August the first two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft arrived from Portugal in the new batch of five that will complement the first multirole aircraft squadron, and last month the Romanian Army received "one of the most efficient and best long-range air defense systems in the world, the first PATRIOT system of the seven that the military will have in training".

"In the next period, by the end of the year, the Romanian Army will receive two more F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole aircraft and more than two hundred military trucks in different configurations, and early next year the Army will have the first HIMARS surface-to-surface missile system. The fundamental purpose of these purchases for defence is to guarantee the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Romania. We will achieve this goal if only we develop those types of forces and capabilities that allow us to fight back to any possible aggressor. Our national defence is based on membership of NATO, the EU and other international organizations, the Strategic Partnership with the US and other strategic partnerships, but, above all, we have a duty to rely on ourselves, on the institutions of the national defense and security system. That is why we must develop our defense capabilities and engage, with our ally, in international operations and missions," Nicolae Ciuca wrote.

The Minister expresses his satisfaction that "from now on the other contracted carriers will be produced in Romania, and their maintenance will also be carried out in the country".

"The military will be supplied with the much-needed PIRANHA V armoured personnel carriers, and the Bucharest Mechanical Plant will grow, becoming one of the production capacities for defense of strategic interest for national security. I am confident that the next batch of PIRANHA V armoured vehicles will be delivered to the military in less than a year and things will go into a status quo. I will ask the Red Scorpions to test all PIRANHA V carriers in conditions as close as possible to those in the tactical field, to make sure that they can rely on them when necessary!" says the Minister of Defence.

On Monday, the Minister of Defence, Nicolae Ciuca, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu, participated at the Bucharest Mechanical Plant in the finalisation of the qualitative reception phase of the first batch of 8x8 troop armored personnel carriers, PIRANHA V.

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, as well as General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH, were also present at the event.

*** The "8x8 Armoured Wheeled Vehicles" endowment programme aims to equip large units and manoeuvring units, combat support and logistical support with tactical vehicles, which will ensure the mobility of forces in the area of operations and the combat support of military actions.

Thus, on the basis of the provisions of HG no. 852/2017, the Ministry of National Defence has signed a framework agreement with GDELS-Mowag (General Dynamics European Land Systems - Mowag GmbH) for the supply of 227 armored personnel carriers and derivatives on the PIRANHA V platform and the initial logistics support, and the total value of the framework agreement is approximately EUR 868 million. Under the framework agreement, a subsequent contract (CS) for the first 94 products was signed, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release sent on Tuesday.AGERPRES(RO - author: Andreea Rotaru, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Maria Voican, editor: Simona Iacob)