Romania to purchase French Mistral air defence systems

Romania will acquire French Mistral air-defence systems as part of a joint procurement effort with several European countries.

The Romanian Ministry of Defence has signed an agreement with the French side for the supply of 231 Mistral man-portable air-defence systems (MANPADS) from manufacturer MBDA, along with 934 missiles, Caliber.Az reports via Western media.

The deal also includes training simulators, personnel training, and logistics. The total value of the procurement exceeds €626 million.

Romania’s current air-defence arsenal includes F-16 fighter jets, Patriot systems, South Korean short-range Chiron surface-to-air missiles, and German Gepard anti-aircraft guns.

In addition, Romania is close to deploying new U.S.-made Merops counter-drone systems. This comes amid regular violations of its airspace by Russian Shahed-type drones attacking Ukrainian ports on the Danube.

On the night of November 24 to 25, one such drone — resembling a Geran model — flew more than 100 km into Romania and crashed in the yard of a private home. This marks the deepest known incursion of a Russian drone into the country since the start of the full-scale war.

By Khagan Isayev