Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel has secured a €1.9 billion ($2.23 billion) contract to supply Romania’s Very Short and Short Range Air Defense (V/SHORAD) systems.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defence confirmed the award after a competitive selection process led by the country’s arms procurement agency.
The V/SHORAD program was initially approved by the Romanian parliament in 2020, with the procurement process launching in 2023.
Romanian media reported that Rafael became the sole remaining bidder after rivals MBDA and Diehl Defence were disqualified, with South Korea’s LIG Nex1 excluded earlier in the evaluation.
Although the chosen system has not been officially announced, reports suggest Rafael’s Spyder system was the company’s proposal, offering both short- and medium-range air defense options using Python-5 and Derby missiles with intercept ranges of 40 kilometers and 80 kilometers, respectively.
This marks Israel’s second-largest defense export to Europe, following the $4 billion Arrow 3 air defense system sale to Germany.
