Romania orders 12 Airbus H225M multirole helicopters

BELFAST — Romania has signed a contract for the acquisition of 12 Airbus H225M multirole helicopters, the European manufacturer said today.

Airbus added in a statement that Bucharest finalized the agreement with the French Armament General Directorate (DGA), under the European Commission’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan instrument.

The move follows Romania greenlighting the estimated €757 million ($845 million) deal in July. At that time, the southeastern European nation said that the new aircraft will support “attack, reconnaissance, surveillance and tactical protection missions, as well as specialized airborne assault missions.”

Bucharest’s overall SAFE allocation is valued at €16.8 billion, making it the second-largest beneficiary of the scheme, behind Poland. SAFE financial aid is aimed at supporting European Union member countries “urgent and strategic” defense investments, according to a factsheet.

As noted by Airbus, the dozen H225Ms will begin the replacement of Romania’s IAR-330 Puma fleet, a locally produced Puma variant, built through an Aerospatiale license.

Within the SAFE framework, Romania and Airbus have previously signed contracts for the order of seven H160 and five H145 helicopters in support of public service missions, added the manufacturer’s statement.  

It said that Romania has also ordered two H215M heavy-lift helicopters, customized to a naval configuration.

According to a June government statement, Bucharest has committed SAFE funding of €12.5 billion to a series of other defense programs including, acquisition of 298 Rheinmetall-produced Lynx KF41 tracked infantry fighting vehicles, seven Skynex and two Skyranger air defense systems from the German firm, alongside two NVL-built maritime patrol vessels and two diver intervention vessels. A total of 34 military drones from Quantum Systems is also included in the spending package.