The two aircraft, ordered from local partner IAR, will be equipped with naval anti-surface warfare (ASuW) weaponry
The Romanian company IAR (Industria Aeronautică Romană) has committed to deliver two H215M naval anti-surface (ASuW) helicopters to the Romanian navy. The aircraft, which IAR is now negotiating with its developer, Airbus, have an estimated value of just over $179 million (up from €166 million at current exchange rates).
A spokesperson for Airbus Helicopters has revealed the Romanian Navy’s agreement with IAR, also notified by the European Union last month, while warning that, for the time being, the Franco-German-Spanish company “has not yet signed the contract on our part with IAR”. Now, he reveals, “negotiations are ongoing,” Janes reports.
At the moment, it has not been revealed what the ASuW equipment planned for the aircraft will consist of or the estimated delivery schedule.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defence asked parliament in October 2022 for the green light for the purchase of these aircraft, of which it had previously tried to acquire different units in an agreement that was never concluded. In fact, in 2017, Airbus reached an agreement with Romania’s IAR (67.7 percent state-owned) to produce H215M twin-engine heavy military helicopters in Romania. Previously, in 2015, it was also reported that helicopters of the H215 civil model were going to be manufactured in the Romanian town of Brasov, in the center of the country.