Romania orders 12 Airbus H225M multirole helicopters

A Hungarian H225M helicopter takes flight (Airbus Helicopters on X)

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 finalised the agreement with the French Armament General Directorate (DGA), under the European Commission’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loan instrument.

The move follows on from Romania green-lighting 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 EU 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, customised to a naval configuration.

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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 also sits within the spending package.

一架匈牙利H225M直升机起飞（空中客车直升机公司出品）

贝尔法斯特——欧洲制造商空客今天表示，罗马尼亚已签署合同，采购 12 架空客 H225M 多用途直升机。

空客在一份声明中补充说，布加勒斯特已根据欧盟委员会的“欧洲安全行动”（SAFE）贷款工具，与法国军备总局（DGA）最终敲定了该协议。

此前，罗马尼亚于7月份批准了这项价值约7.57亿欧元（8.45亿美元）的交易。当时，这个东南欧国家表示，新飞机将支持“攻击、侦察、监视和战术保护任务，以及专门的空中突击任务”。

布加勒斯特获得的SAFE计划拨款总额为168亿欧元，使其成为该计划的第二大受益国，仅次于波兰。根据一份情况说明书，SAFE财政援助旨在支持欧盟成员国“紧急且具有战略意义的”国防投资。

正如空客公司所指出的，这十二架H225M直升机将开始替换罗马尼亚的IAR-330“美洲狮”机队，IAR-330“美洲狮”是罗马尼亚本土生产的“美洲狮”变型机，由法国宇航公司授权生产。

制造商的声明补充说，在 SAFE 框架内，罗马尼亚和空客此前已签署合同，订购 7 架 H160 和 5 架 H145 直升机，以支持公共服务任务。

报道称，罗马尼亚还订购了两架H215M重型运输直升机，并根据海军配置进行了定制。

MQ-9B 和 Gambit 系列：提升欧洲国防能力

通用航空飞机公司（GA-ASI）将与欧洲公司合作，在欧洲建造 Gambit 飞机，从 2027 年开始，飞机机身将可供国际采购。

根据政府6月份的一份声明，布加勒斯特已承诺向一系列国防项目提供125亿欧元的SAFE资金，其中包括采购298辆莱茵金属公司生产的Lynx KF41履带式步兵战车；7套Skynex和2套Skyranger防空系统；以及两艘由NVL公司建造的海上巡逻艇和两艘潜水员干预艇。此外，该预算还包括从Quantum Systems公司采购34架军用无人机。