Bucharest, March 26 /Agerpres/ - Romania will start mass production of homemade dual-purpose - military and civilian - drones by the end of this year, after the prototype will be rolled out in summer; works to upgrade the production lines for the explosive compounds RDX and TNT are also underway, Minister of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Bogdan Ivan declared on Wednesday at the Parliament.

He added that the drone concept is now in the final phase of testing and mass production is scheduled to start by the end of this year.

'We are now analyzing to see where to target investments and where we can produce - from 155-caliber NATO-grade ammunition to everything the TNT and RDX explosive substances mean. We are ready to expand production capacities and we are now working together with the Defense Ministry on this mechanism to ensure as much of Romania's internal needs as possible,' the Economy Ministry explained.

'In about two and a half years, we will produce our own explosive powders in a joint venture with a large foreign company, and we also have the Foreign Military Sales mechanism in place for 155-mm ammunition,' Ivan said. These explosives will be produced at the factory in the town of Victoria, near Fagaras.

Bogdan Ivan also said that no less than RON 1 billion will flow this year in Romanian military equipment production projects, specifically to national defense companies.

According to the minister, all this is complemented by the offset program through which a part of the amount spent by the Romanian state to equip the army will return to the economy through the companies in the defense industry.

Bogdan Ivan made the statements at the 'Government Question Hour' debate held in the Senate plenary, at the invitation of the Save Romania Union group. The debate focused on the defense industry and development prospects in the current regional security context. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mariana Ionescu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)