Arms industry in Romania
Encyclopedia
Before 1989, Romania was among the top ten arms exporters in the world, however its arms industry declined considerably during the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
. Exports fell from roughly $1 billion before 1989 to about $43 million in 2006, and the number of employees also fell from 220,000 in 1990 to 20,000 in 2009. Sales to the Romanian Armed Forces
Romanian Armed Forces
The Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces of Romania are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces...
have plunged after Romania's accession to NATO in 2004, as factories continue to produce Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
-caliber weapons and ammunition, which are incompatible with their Western counterparts. There have also been criticisms related to the quality of Romania's military products, due to the obsolescence of factory equipment and production methods. The Cugir
Cugir
Cugir is a town in Alba county, the central settlement of the Breadfield, in Romania. About 45 kilometers south-west of Alba-Iulia, the capital of the county, and 300 meters above sea level at the base of the Surianu Mountains...
weapons plant, for example, still uses some machinery dated from 1890.
As of 2009, sales are roughly evenly divided between the Romanian state
Government of Romania
The Government of Romania forms one half of the country's executive branch . It is headed by the Prime-Minister, and consists of the Ministries, various subordinated institutions and agencies, and the 42 Prefectures...
and foreign customers such as European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and Arab countries such as Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Irak. Other countries which have shown interest in Romanian equipment include Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and a slew of African countries. There have been some signs of slight recovery, with exports reaching €141 million in 2009. However, the arms industry in Romania still lags behind neighboring countries such as Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
.
In recent years, the Romanian government has called, unsuccessfully, for the lifting of the European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic of China
European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic of China
Relations between the European Union and the People's Republic of China were established in 1975 and the two are each others' largest trading partners. A major point of contention in relations is the EU's arms ban to China.-Agreements:...
.
Manufacturers
- Romtehnica
- ROMARM
- Uzinele Mecanice Cugir
- Uzina Automecanica Moreni
- Carfil Braşov
- Industria Aeronautică RomânăIndustria Aeronautica RomânaIndustria Aeronautică Română or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a Romanian aerospace manufacturer founded in 1925. Based in Ghimbav, near Braşov, Romania, the company employs around 1200 specialists including more than 170 engineers...
Small arms
- PA md. 86Pusca Automata model 1986The Puşcă Automată model 1986 is the standard assault rifle used by the Romanian Military Forces and manufactured in Cugir, Romania by firm RomArm S.A. located in Bucharest, Romania...
assault rifle and carabine - PM md. 63/65/90Pistol Mitraliera model 1963/1965The Pistol Mitralieră model 1963 is an assault rifle patterned after the AK-47, and chambered in the 7.62x39mm cartridge. It's exported as the AIM....
assault rifle and carabine - Pistol model 2000Pistol model 2000The Pistol model 2000 is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by RomArm via the Cugir Arsenal of Romania. The pistol, chambered in 9x19mm Luger is an almost identical copy of the Magnum Research Jericho 941 . The pistol is the standard sidearm of the Romanian Army.-References:* ...
handgun - RATMIL SMGPistol Mitraliera model 1996 RATMILThe Pistol Mitralieră model 1996 RATMIL is a blowback operated, folding stock submachine gun chambered in 9mm Luger used by the Romanian gendarmes. Initially developed as the 9mm PM md. 96, the developer's name, back then RATMIL, was added to the name, in order to distinguish it from the Assault...
submachinegun - Mitralieră md. 93RPKThe RPK is a 7.62x39mm light machine gun of Soviet design, developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the late 1950s, parallel with the AKM assault/battle rifle...
5.45x39mm LMG - PM md. 64RPKThe RPK is a 7.62x39mm light machine gun of Soviet design, developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the late 1950s, parallel with the AKM assault/battle rifle...
7.62x39mm light machine gun - PSLPSL (rifle)The PSL is a Romanian military designated marksman rifle. It is also called PSL-54C, Romak III, FPK, FPK Dragunov and SSG-97...
sniper rifle - Dracula md. 98 machine pistol
- 7.62x54Rmm Machine GunCugir machine gunThe Cugir machine gun is a gas-operated rotating bolt-locking medium machine gun used by Romanian Land Forces. It can be carried and operated by one person, but an assistant gunner is usually employed. It is available with either a 250 round belt or a 100 round box magazine.There is also a light...
- 7.62x54Rmm Tank Machine Gun
- AG-7RPG-7The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
rocket propelled grenade - AG-9SPG-9The SPG-9 Kopye is a Russian tripod-mounted man-portable, 73 millimetre calibre recoilless gun developed by the Soviet Union. It fires fin-stabilised, rocket-assisted HE and HEAT projectiles similar to those fired by the 73 mm 2A28 Grom low pressure gun of the BMP-1 vehicle...
Rocket propelled grenade - CA-94Strela 2The 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...
surface-to-air missile system
AFVs
- TR-77-580 main battle tank
- TR-85/TR-85 M1TR-85The TR-85 is a main battle tank designed for the armed forces of Romania. Based on the TR-77-580 , the TR-85 tank was developed from 1978 to 1985 and produced from 1986 until 1990. A modernization program was initiated in March 1994 in order to upgrade the TR-85 tanks to NATO standards...
main battle tank - TR-125TR-125The TR-125 main battle tank is the redesigned T-72 made in Romania with Romanian components only. Number 125 in the designation stands for the 125 mm A555 smoothbore tank gun...
main battle tank - MLI-84/MLI-84MMLI-84The MLI-84 is a native-made Romanian infantry fighting vehicle currently in service with the Romanian Land Forces. It is basically a stock BMP-1 with a lengthened hull and a 12.7x108mm DShK 1938/46 heavy machine gun mounted on the roof of the troop compartment....
infantry fighting vehicle - TAB-77BTR-70The BTR-70 is an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier , originally developed during the late 1960s under the industrial designator GAZ-4905. On August 21, 1972, it was accepted into service and would later be exported to the Warsaw Pact and other allies...
armored personnel carrier - ABC-79M armored personnel carrier
- B33 ZimbruBTR-80BTR-80 is an 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier designed in the Soviet Union. Production started in 1986 and replaced the previous versions, BTR-60 and BTR-70 in the Soviet army. -Description:The Soviets based the BTR-80 on the BTR-70 APC...
armored personnel carrier - Saur 1Saur 1The Saur 1 is an armoured personnel carrier developed by the Romanian company ROMARM in 2006.- Development :Late in 2006, ROMARM completed the first prototype of a new multi-role amphibious armoured infantry fighting vehicle called Saur. In the past this has been referred to as the Zimbru 2006...
armored personnel carrier - CA-95CA-95The CA-95 is a highly mobile, short range, Romanian native-made amphibious self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, currently in service with the Romanian Land Forces. It can carry four infrared-guided surface to air missiles and has a range of approximately 700 km...
mobile anti-air missile system