AGERPRES special correspondent Oana Ghita reports: NATO is discussing the best technical solution for defence against drones, interim Defence Minister Radu Miruta said on Tuesday.

He attended the NATO Security and Defence Industry Forum (NSDIF), which is taking place on Tuesday on the margins of the NATO Summit.

The interim minister signed, together with Allied counterparts and in the presence of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, several memoranda related to counter-drone defence projects.

'At NATO level, a series of actions are being discussed to identify the best technical solution for air defence against low-altitude targets. A memorandum on pilot training at several locations across Europe has also been signed. Another document signed concerns NATO Drone Edge - a project through which member states agree to make joint acquisitions of drones. It will be a kind of ‘marketplace' tested by NATO, with solutions tested by NATO, from which countries will be able to purchase products coordinated at NATO level. Another project that has been signed concerns NATO Global Eye, a new system that will replace the well-known AWACS aircraft used for high-altitude surveillance,' the minister explained.

He said that the Alliance needs to increase production capacity in the defence industry.

'Today, a number of NATO member states officially signed a document establishing that there is a need to jointly purchase drones and joint solutions because, as I have said before and repeat, Europe and NATO do not need 27 solutions or, respectively, 32 different solutions to the same problem. The eastern flank faces a series of threats that are evenly distributed. Solutions must be designed for the entire eastern flank, and for this reason we are carrying out both diplomatic and military efforts - and you can see that these efforts are beginning to bear fruit. Memoranda have been signed precisely in this area,' Miruta said.

According to him, alongside the NATO Drone Edge project, there is another initiative, also signed by Romania, which sets the target of increasing fivefold by 2027 the number of military personnel able to manage, operate and pilot drones.

Radu Miruta also said that one of Romania's objectives at NATO is the even distribution of NATO resources across the eastern flank, increasing awareness of the consequences of the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, and joint procurement.

'With regard to the distribution of resources on the eastern flank, this is certainly not an issue raised only by Romania, because all countries on the eastern flank share this concern. However, we are the country with access to the Black Sea, where, in the discussions we are having together with Turkey and Bulgaria regarding the Black Sea, we are not simply saying that we want to be players; we are demonstrating this by the fact that we have signed a contract to build four additional new vessels. Security in the Black Sea is ensured through aerial surveillance, air defence systems, but also through vessels that create safe navigation conditions in the Black Sea,' Radu Miruta added. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Florin Marin: EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)