Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has won Romania’s €1.9 billion ($2.23 billion) Very Short and Short Range Air Defense (V/SHORAD) contract, following a competitive bidding process managed by Romania’s defense procurement agency.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defence announced that Rafael was selected after a thorough review, with no appeals filed by other participants, clearing the way for the final framework agreement to be signed.
The acquisition was approved by Romania’s parliament in 2020, with the procurement officially beginning in 2023.
Romanian reports indicated that Rafael was the last company remaining after competitors MBDA, Diehl Defence, and South Korea’s LIG Nex1 were excluded.
While Romania has not publicly confirmed the exact system, Rafael reportedly offered its Spyder mobile air defense platform, which can deploy Python-5 and Derby missiles to intercept threats at ranges of up to 40 and 80 kilometers, respectively.
This is set to become the second-largest Israeli defense deal after Israel Aerospace Industries’ multi-billion-dollar Arrow 3 missile defense sale to Germany.
