At the GICA conference in Bucharest, Romania heavily promoted the need for primes to treat offset activities “very seriously” in order to keep the country secure, and expressed that failing to create capabilities in Romania would pose a “big issue” for the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ratified the US-Ukraine Economic Partnership Agreement following months of negotiations. The deal will grant the US preferential access to Ukraine’s mineral resources in return for wartime aid.
India and France have finalised the much-awaited Intergovernmental Agreement for the procurement of 26 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault. Under the USD7.4bn deal, Dassault will establish a production facility in India for the jet’s fuselage as well as MRO facilities for its engines, sensors, and weapons. The deal also includes technology transfer for the integration of indigenous Indian weapons on the jets.
Lockheed Martin’s local partners, Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze Nr 1 (WZL1) in Poland and AIC Steel in Saudi Arabia, have respectively completed the production and delivery of the PAC-3 MSE and THAAD missile components at their domestic facilities for the first time.
Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have jointly submitted a proposal to supply the Royal Canadian Navy up to 12 KSS-III submarines. The proposal includes plans to build facilities for maintenance of the submarines in Canada. Meanwhile, Hanwha Aerospace has expressed interest in supplying the Chilean Army with armoured vehicles in an offer that includes localisation.
Turkey’s land systems manufacturer Okotar has signed an agreement with Romania’s Rheinmetall Automecanica SRL to establish a joint venture in Romania for the local production of Cobra II vehicles. Separately, Romanian manufacturer Carfil will begin the local production of drones in cooperation with US firm Periscope Aviation.