The Romanian Army will acquire the first Patriot missile system by the end of 2017, said the Defense Minister Mihai Fifor on Wednesday, September 27.

“What I can say for sure is that the Romanian Army will acquire the first Patriot system by the end of the year. We are waiting for the acceptance letter from the US to move on to the contract and buy the first program,” Fifor said, reports local News.ro.

He added that, during the talks with the US Secretary of Defense, the Romanian side has asked for the payment for the Patriot system to be made in installments. On one hand, this would be “a proof of predictability,” and on the other hand, “it is more convenient for us to be able to secure the purchase of these systems over the next few years.”

The US State Department approved in July the possible sale of Patriot missile defense systems to Romania, including technical support and equipment, with an estimated price tag of USD 3.9 billion. Former Romanian defense minister Adrian Tutuianu said later the same month that Romania could pay the first installment to acquire Patriot missiles in November.

The current defense minister Mihai Fifor also said on Wednesday that Romania could also buy the first ten Piranha armored personnel carriers by end-2017.

“Also by the end of the year, we hope to complete the negotiations with General Dynamics and start the collaboration between the Bucharest Mechanical Plant and General Dynamics, and also to acquire the first ten Piranha armored personnel carriers in this program,” Fifor said.

The minister also talked about the possibility of purchasing more F16 fighters, saying that the Romanian authorities are in “advanced talks” to purchase 36 such aircraft from the US.

“We have sent the necessary documents to see the purchase price. We are at the beginning of this negotiation and we hope that we will be able to acquire another 36 aircraft,” he said.

Romania bought a total of 12 F16s from Portugal last year, and officially took over the first six in late September the same year.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com