Parliament approved the purchase of 200 Patriot missiles

The Defense Committees of the Parliament unanimously approved the request sent by the Ministry of National Defense regarding the purchase of 200 Patriot missiles, for which our country will pay approximately 1.08 billion euros, excluding VAT. It is about the missiles intended to strengthen the air defense capability with the ground base related to the "High Range Surface-to-Air Missile System (HSAM)" endowment program.

The purchase will be made in the context of the security crisis in the region, for the operationalization and strengthening of the ground-based air defense capability. The purchase will be made through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The purchase will be made by NSPA by awarding a contract to the COMLOG/Germany Company, for the manufacture of the missiles, and through an FMS (Foreign Military Sales) type LOA (Letter of Offer and Acceptance) agreement with the Government of the United States of America, for the approval of the missiles manufactured in Europe.

According to NSPA data, the maximum unit price of a rocket is about 5,444,750 euros, excluding VAT. The total estimated cost for the entire package of 200 missiles is 1,088,950,000 euros, excluding VAT, and includes spare parts, related services and FMS costs. The final price will be determined precisely after the initiation of the procurement contract award procedures. The initial advance, approximately 35% of the estimated total value of the entire package, must be paid by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

PAC-2 GEM-T missiles are the most modern versions of the PAC-2 missiles, which can engage targets of various types, from enemy aircraft, drones or helicopters, to cruise missiles or, in particular, tactical ballistic missiles. The PAC 2 GEM-T missile has an operational range of about 160 kilometers, a ceiling of 32,000 meters, uses semi-active radar guidance and destroys targets by exploding in their vicinity. The PAC-2 GEM-T missiles are the largest of the Patriot system in terms of size, and can be mounted up to four per launcher.

Those missiles were used on the Ukrainian front and managed to shoot down a SU-24 bomber plane, a SU-35S fighter plane and two Mil Mi-8 military helicopters in Russia in just a few minutes. Military forces in Kiev also claimed that the Patriot missiles had also managed to intercept several Russian Kinjal hypersonic missiles.

Our country paid $3.9 billion for seven new Patriot anti-aircraft systems in the latest available configuration (3+), bundled with several hundred interceptors. Romania bought 7 missile systems The systems have the following components: radar settings, control systems, antenna groups, launchers (which can carry and launch 4 PAC-2 GEMT missiles or 12 PAC-3 MSE missiles), PAC-2 missiles Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM (GEM-T), PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles, power plants.

Four Patriot systems have been delivered to date. The first system was delivered to the Romanian Air Force in 2020, and from 2021 it performs specific air defense missions and against missiles that would enter Romanian and NATO airspace. The second system was received during 2022, the acceptance and endurance testing being carried out in December last year, after which it entered the equipment of the 74th Patriot Regiment. Systems three and four were received in 2022 and 2023.