Defence Minister Radu Miruta said on Monday, during a meeting at the Automecanica Medias complex with the management teams of Otokar and Rheinmetall, that the Romanian Army is interested in what can be procured from domestic production, while the government is focused on what can be manufactured and retained long-term in the country.

According to a Ministry of Defence statement, Miruta, accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gheorghita Vlad, and the head of the Armament General Directorate, Major General Cornel Plesa, was on a working visit to Otokar and Rheinmetall's production units at Automecanica Medias, where COBRA II military vehicles are manufactured and where SKYNEX, SKYRANGER and LYNX platforms for the Romanian Army are set to be produced.

The Ministry said that discussions with Otokar and Rheinmetall management focused on the concrete results of the accelerated procurement programme: training and specialization of Romanian personnel in Turkey and Germany, transfer of know-how and production to Romania, creation of capacities to supply military equipment to NATO member states, and the development of Medias as a regional centre for military-technology manufacturing.

More than 400 Romanian employees work in the Medias factories, trained by the two companies both domestically and abroad to produce military equipment to the standards required by the Romanian Army and NATO.

At the Otokar plant, around 100 COBRA II vehicles are in various stages of production and are expected to be completed by the end of the year. Vehicles destined for the Romanian Army will carry the 'Made in Romania' label. At Rheinmetall's production unit in the Medias industrial complex, significant investments are underway to expand the capacities needed for accelerated production of platforms and equipment for the Army.

An important topic of discussion was increasing the participation of Romanian industry in procurement programmes and identifying new opportunities to integrate Romanian companies into production chains.

'In the coming period, we will identify new solutions to increase the involvement of Romanian companies in supplying components and elements needed for military-equipment production. Our objective is for defence investments to contribute as much as possible to developing Romania's industrial capabilities,' Miruta said.

The Defence minister and the Chief of Defence Staff also emphasized the need to work with economic operators to identify measures that can accelerate testing, production and acceptance processes for essential defence equipment.

'We will firmly support the interests of the Romanian Army in its relationship with all suppliers and, at the same time, we will support economic operators in developing high-performance, sustainable production capacities in Romania. (...) The Army is interested in what we can procure from Romania, and the government is interested in what we can produce and retain long-term in the country. The investments we make today in defence must generate not only military capabilities but also industrial capacity for Romania,' Miruta said. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Stoica; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)