World News | NATO Member Romania Pushes to Buy 54 Abrams Battle Tanks from US
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Romania is pushing to buy 54 Abrams main battle tanks and related equipment from the United States in a deal worth at least a billion dollars, the defense ministry said on Friday.
Bucharest, Nov 10 (AP) Romania is pushing to buy 54 Abrams main battle tanks and related equipment from the United States in a deal worth at least a billion dollars, the defense ministry said on Friday.
The ministry said the latest-model tanks would help its military meet regional security challenges. Romania, a NATO member since 2004, shares a long border with war-torn Ukraine.
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The sale would include ammunition and training simulators, the ministry said. It said Romania has estimated the contract as worth about USD 1 billion, but that Congress was notified of a higher value of USD 2.5 billion after it was approved by the US State Department on Thursday. No timeframe for the purchase was specified.
Romanian Minister of Defense Angel Tilvar said the strategic partnership between his country and the US “represents one of the pillars of national security and an essential contribution to strengthening the defense of the allied eastern flank in the Black Sea region.”
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On Friday, Romania's defense ministry also announced the inauguration next week of a long-planned training hub for F-16 fighter jet pilots from NATO countries and other partners, including Ukraine.
The US State Department's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Thursday after a notification was sent to Congress that the potential tank sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives” of the US and improve NATO's security.
In April, Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense announced that it had approved the acquisition of an unspecified number of American-made F-35 fighter jets, as Romania pushes to modernise its military.
After Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Romania boosted it defense spending, while NATO bolstered its presence on Europe's eastern flank by sending additional multinational battlegroups to alliance members Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.(AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)