The Romanian military drone is taking shape: agreement between Carfil Braşov and Periscope Aviation

The project to create the first Romanian military drone is starting to take shape, after last Friday, on the last day of the Black Sea Defense & Aerospace Exhibition (BSDA) 2024, a cooperation agreement was signed in this regard between the Carfil Braşov company, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, and the American company Periscope Aviation.

On this occasion, Ştefan Raduy Oprea, the Minister of Economy, said: "We signed a protocol to make a drone together, a drone that has applicability in both the civil and military fields. That is why two more protocols were signed, one that includes several associations, of those who believe in this capacity of Romania to have a Romanian drone and together with them we propose to improve the legislative framework, so that such projects can be done very quickly. The second protocol brought together those who want to use the Romanian drone for agriculture. You will see there research institutes in the field of agriculture, you will see universities in the field of agriculture, for sure the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest because together we want to develop the research part in Romania so that we can go from the idea part, to the prototype, to the product ".

The Minister of Economy stated that several companies that produce drones operate in our country, but to have a truly competitive product at the international level, the agreement concluded at the end of last week is needed.

Ştefan Radu Oprea, showed: "Besides the Romanian drone project, there is also our intention to become suppliers in the global production chains of branded manufacturers such as Periscope. It is not the only company, but we want them to know us better, to see the production capacities we have in Romania, to develop products, to be part of their supply chains".

For his part, Nick McCarter, CEO of Periscope Avation, emphasized that there is an intention to create a Romanian drone, manufactured in Romania for local customers. Mircea Tanţau, the general director of Carfil, added that the company has manufacturing facilities, but until now it has not had a company to industrialize these drones.

Mircea Tanţau said: "We want to produce drones and be included in the chain of European and global equipment and drone suppliers. Carfil has, thanks to the support of the ministry, modern manufacturing capabilities, we have investments of over 15 million euros, we have ultra-modern machines and we are ready to launch in mass production the types of drones that we will establish based on a roadmap. This cooperation agreement is the preparation of an association agreement between Romania, through Carfil, the Ministry of Economy, and Periscope Avation. We will have to define everyone's participation".

The Carfil SA company, with a history of over 100 years in the production of armaments and ammunition for artillery, is among the most important companies in Romania's defense industry.

Periscope Aviation represents the drone division of Chartis Federal, and is the latest investment by the American company, renowned for its innovation in high-performance tactical UAV systems.