January 17 (SeeNews) - Spain-headquartered General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS), a unit of U.S.-based General Dynamics, said on Wednesday it has signed a deal of over $1 billion (817.4 million euro) with Romania for the delivery of 227 Piranha V wheeled armoured vehicles.
The armoured vehicles in six different configurations will be built in Romania under a strategic cooperation and transfer of technology project between GDELS - Mowag and Romania's Uzina Mecanica Bucuresti (UMB), GDELS said in a statement.
The contract is part of a project for the modernisation of Romania's land forces.
“With this step, we have established a sustainable collaboration with a trusted partner which has a significant industrial footprint in Romania,” said Thomas Kauffmann, General Dynamics European Land Systems Vice President International Business & Services. “The transfer of technology and the local production of these vehicles present an enormous opportunity to the Romanian industry.”
GDELS is also one of the candidates for a project for modernising the land forces in Romania's southern neighbour Bulgaria.
Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, plans to spend a total of 9.8 billion euro ($11.5 billion) until 2026 to boost its defence capabilities, the National Defence Council (CSAT) said in August last year.
In 2016, Romania's defence spending was equal to 1.48% of GDP.
($ = 0.8174 euro)