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News | April 1, 2020

Romania purchases tactical game changer from U.S.

By Adriane Elliot U.S. Army Security Assistance Command Public Affairs

The first items in a $1.5 billion foreign military sales case are expected to be delivered to Romania sometime this spring.

The U.S. ally, which hosts over 100 American sailors and Navy contractors on a constant, rotational basis, is the first European partner to buy the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems or HIMARS.

In addition to the light multiple rocket launchers, the case includes warheads, artillery tactical data systems, Humvees, resupply vehicles, repair parts and training.

According to Cecil Jefferson, a country program manager at the Security Assistance Command, this latest deal is part of larger initiative to help the partner nation complete its military modernization goals.

“The Romanian Land Forces is working on replacing its outdated military inventory,” he said, “and the HIMARS is one of the most technologically advanced and sustainable artillery systems in the world. This will be a game changer for Romania.’”

Jefferson explained that while U.S. foreign policy promotes the strengthening of foreign partners to meet their own self-defense needs, it also improves their capabilities to operate beside U.S. forces to address shared security threats.

Romania’s HIMARS foreign military sales case is being executed by the Redstone Arsenal-based USASAC, which develops and manages security assistance programs for the Army. The command manages FMS cases totally about $200 billion with more than 150 nations worldwide.

In addition to the HIMARS case, Romania also inked a multibillion dollar deal to purchase Patriot air defense systems, with the first field unit scheduled for delivery later this year.

“Foreign military sales is vital to our national defense. We don’t fight wars alone, so we enable our partner nations, who can then protect their own borders and help stabilize a region, but the second order effect is that they can then train and effectively execute missions with coalition forces when called upon,” Jefferson said. “This ability to train, fight and win together is the ultimate win-win.”

Jefferson has been working in security assistance since 2011 and coordinates FMS cases with Romania, Finland, Norway, Bulgaria and Malta.

In addition to executing FMS cases, USASAC is increasingly responding to support of U.S. government emergency assistance, humanitarian relief, and operations other than war, including United Nations peacekeeping operations.