Romania buys Spyder air-defense suites from Israel for over $2 billion

JERUSALEM — Rafael Advanced Systems will supply short-range air defense systems to Romania for well over $2 billion, the Romanian Ministry of Defense announced this week.

The transaction will be the second largest defense deal in Israeli defense-industry history after the sale of the Arrow-3 to Germany for $3.5 billion.

The bulk of the Romanian purchase is for Spyder defense system batteries in various configurations, which will allow the integration of short-range interceptors.

Israel competed in the Romanian tender against European competitors to provide a defensive response, among other things, from attacks similar to those experienced by neighboring Ukraine, such as drones, cruise missiles and attack helicopters.

The Spyder is a mobile air defense system whose components are mounted on off-road trucks, and is built around Python-4 heat-seeking missiles and radar-guided Derby missiles, designed to intercept targets at low altitudes and at a distance of tens of kilometers. Rafael confirmed to Defense News that it submitted Spyder configurations for the Romanian tender.

Romanian officials indicated that they will purchase six Spyder systems over a period of seven years, with the first two very-short-range systems to be delivered within three years of the signing of the first contract.

Israel Aerospace Industries, which supplies the Elta MMR radar for the Spyder, is expected to receive a share of approximately $100 million from Rafael’s deal with Romania, which brings Rafael’s total Spyder sales to date to approximately $5 billion.

Tzally Greenberg is the Israel correspondent for Defense News. He has experience reporting on economic affairs as well as defense and cyber companies.

耶路撒冷——罗马尼亚国防部本周宣布，拉斐尔先进系统公司将向罗马尼亚提供价值超过 20 亿美元的短程防空系统。

这笔交易将是以色列国防工业史上第二大国防交易，仅次于以 35 亿美元向德国出售 Arrow-3 导弹。

罗马尼亚此次采购的大部分是各种配置的 Spyder 防御系统电池，这将允许集成短程拦截器。

以色列与欧洲竞争对手在罗马尼亚的招标中展开角逐，旨在提供防御性应对措施，以应对类似于邻国乌克兰所遭受的袭击，例如无人机、巡航导弹和攻击直升机。

“蜘蛛”（Spyder）是一款移动式防空系统，其组件安装在越野卡车上，主要装备“蟒蛇-4”（Python-4）红外制导导弹和“德比”（Derby）雷达制导导弹，旨在拦截低空、数十公里外的目标。拉斐尔公司向《防务新闻》证实，该公司已向罗马尼亚提交了“蜘蛛”系统的配置方案。

罗马尼亚官员表示，他们将在七年内购买六套 Spyder 系统，其中前两套超短程系统将在第一份合同签署后的三年内交付。

为 Spyder 提供 Elta MMR 雷达的以色列航空航天工业公司预计将从 Rafael 与罗马尼亚的交易中获得约 1 亿美元的一部分，这使得 Rafael 迄今为止 Spyder 的总销售额达到约 50 亿美元。

特扎利·格林伯格是《防务新闻》的以色列记者。他拥有丰富的经济事务以及国防和网络安全公司报道经验。