Mihai Fifor: Romanian Army will have three submarines

Romanian Minister of National Defense, Mihai Fifor, intends to initiate a new major program to endow the Naval Forces with submarines, Minister Fifor said today in Constanţa, during a visit aboard "King Ferdinand" frigate F221.

“In order to obtain the necessary approvals, we want to present the Parliament and the Supreme Council of Country Defense (CSAT) a new major medium and long term program - apart from the already approved eight - to endow the army with three submarines. I know it may seem a very ambitious project, but I tell you it is a feasible project and we can do it in a Romanian shipyard, same way we can build any other kind of ship. We are at the stage when we are setting the technical parameters for this type of submarine", Defense Minister said, adding that the submarine endowment program could start in 2020.

Next week, Romanian Defense Minister will submit the Government, for approval, the draft decision in reference to the start-up of the multi-corvette endowment program for the Military Navy, Fifor said.

"This year we are prepared, on the legislative part, to start the program on the four multifunctional corvettes. In the Wednesday Government meeting, we will present the draft Government Decision for the four corvettes, so that we can start the dialogue and this contract can be signed by the end of the year. I remind you: the essential condition to win this dialogue is that these corvettes are produced in a Romanian shipyard. It is a condition that we did not want to lose because, out of the 2% allocated for the Defense, we wanted to return as much possible money to the Romanian defense industry", Fifor declared.

Minister of Defense underlined that the corvette offset program is intended to modernize frigates "King Ferdinand" and "Queen Mary".

Reiterating the publicly stated decision that 2018 should be dedicated to launching large programs for the endowment of the Romanian Naval Forces, Mihai Fifor announced that by the end of this interval, there is a target to initiate a program for endowing Romanian coastal batteries with anti-ship missiles.

"I have discussed with (Chief of the Romanian General Staff, n.a.) Gen. Nicolae Ciucă and with (Chief of The Romanian Naval Forces, n.a.) Vice Admiral Alexandru Mîrșu and, I as far as I understand, it is essential that this year we try to start another program for the Naval Forces and I’m thinking about the coastal batteries. We have identified the financial resources and we can start this program so that by the end of the year we can also line up with the coastal battery program. I know there has been a lot of speculation on my claims. We want the Romanian Army to play a key role in the region", Fifor said.

At the end of the press statements, Minister of National Defense announced his commitment to support the extension of the Air Base Mihail Kogalniceanu. "We have requested a permanent US military presence in the Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, on a Polish model", Minister Fifor underlined.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei