After Romania became the first Eastern European country in 2021 to acquired a long-range salvo missile system HIMARS (HIMARS), ahead of countries such as Poland and Lithuania, yesterday the country also opened a center for the maintenance of American missile systems - another step in the cooperation between the company Aerostar Bacau (Aerostar Bacau) - one of the leading companies in the Romanian defense industry, and the American giant Lockheed Martin, BTA reported.
Defence Minister Angel Talvar, who attended the opening ceremony of the National Center for the Support of HIMARS Systems within the Aerostar Company, said that Romania will secure a "strategic advantage" by providing support for its own HIMARS missile systems in the country, Agerpress reported.
The result of a collaboration between the companies Lockheed Martin and Aerostar, the center in the northeastern city of Baku will provide technical support for the HIMARS systems that Romania bought from the US government, according to a statement from the Ministry of Defense.
Minister Talvar assessed the creation of this center as "an outstanding achievement" of the cooperation between the Romanian company Aerostar and the American Lockheed Martin, through which Romania enters the global network of maintenance and logistical support facilities for some of the most advanced artillery systems at the moment.
"Besides the strategic advantage for Romania to have - in the current security context - a guaranteed solution for the maintenance of its own HIMARS systems, the creation of this center also enables countries in the region whose armies are equipped with such systems to send their equipment for maintenance and repair here in Baku, where they will benefit from the expertise of the best specialists in the region", Talvar also pointed out.
He also highlighted the role of the newly created center for the economy and jobs in this part of Romania.
"The HIMARS support center opened today will also have an impact on the economic development of the area - no less than 2,000 Baku residents will work here in highly qualified positions through the participation of one of the most important companies from the national industry - "Aerostar Baku", emphasized the minister.
The specialized edition "DefenseRomania" defines the event as a "historic moment for the defense industry in Romania" and notes that this will be the first center of its kind in Europe and will repair HIMARS systems of neighboring countries as well, including Ukraine.
Aerostar AD in partnership with Lockheed Martin opened today the first licensed HIMARS support center in Europe. This new center strengthens existing ties between global defense company Lockheed Martin and Romania's Aerostar, which already collaborate on similar maintenance activities for Romania's fleets of Black Hawk helicopters and F-16 jets, the publication added.
Romania will be able to repair its own HIMARS systems, as well as those of Ukraine and other countries in the region, writes the news site Hotnews on the occasion of the opening of the center.
According to a Lockheed Martin announcement, the HIMARS support center will contribute to the creation and retention of jobs in Romania and will provide better availability and lower operational costs for the Romanian ground forces.
"We at Lockheed Martin are proud of our long-standing strategic partnership with Romania, which includes significant collaborations that drive innovation and sustainability to improve Romania's defense industrial base," the US company said in a statement. quoted by "DefenseRomania".
Romania bought three HIMARS systems manufactured by the Lockheed Martin company under a long-range missile program under a contract concluded in 2019. The first two were received in 2021 and 2023. and the third is to be delivered this year, Agerpress reminds.
In order to ensure the overall maintenance of these systems on national territory, the Ministry of Defense requested the Ministry of Economy to conduct a procedure for determining a contractor to create such a center. As a result of the procedure, the Aerostar Baku company was selected.
The Romanian army will have 54 HIMARS multi-charge launchers for salvo fire, which gained real fame after they were delivered to the Ukrainians and became the "first violin" of the successful counter-offensive against the Russians in the summer and autumn of 2022, notes "DefenseRomania". According to the publication, Romania's contract for the HIMARS systems is worth about 1.5 billion dollars.
The publication also reminds that at the end of last year, Derco, a company of the Lockheed Martin group, concluded a contract with Aerostar AD for the repair of the landing gear, wheels and brakes of the fleet of F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force, and the Baku-based company will also upgrade the military aircraft purchased from Romania to a higher standard.
Currently, the Romanian Air Force has 20 F-16s, purchased old from Portugal (17) and Norway (3), with 29 more to come from Norway.
"Lockheed Martin has stood by Romania for over 25 years and today is a strategic partner for national defense, industry and academia. The company is engaged in partnership with Romania through various defense and security programs, including military aircraft, anti-missile defense, precision fire systems, radars and pilot training," the US company said in a statement.