Aerostar S.A. in Romania’s Bacău city has successfully constructed, in collaboration with Lockheed Martin, the maintenance center for HIMARS missile launchers, which have been central to the Russia-Ukraine war, as reported by Romanian defense industry sources on Wednesday.
“As a result of the collaboration between the company Lockheed Martin and Aerostar S.A., the National Maintenance Center for HIMARS Systems was created,” Aerostar Bacău was quoted as saying by the sources.
The inauguration ceremony was set to officially take place Thursday with the attendance of local officials along with representatives of both Romanian and U.S. companies.
Reports indicate that the Romanian army is set to acquire 54 HIMARS multiple launchers, which gained popularity following Ukrainian efforts to disrupt Russian troops.
Romania’s contract for HIMARS amounted to approximately $1.5 billion, the reports added.
At the beginning of this year, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tîlvăr, along with the maintenance center for HIMARS, have made statements on the maintenance of F16 aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force, through the same Romanian company.
Derco, a Lockheed Martin group company, had already signed an agreement with Aerostar S.A. for the repair of landing gear, wheels and brakes of such aircraft at the end of last year in order to ensure the maintenance of the F-16 aircraft fleet of the Romanian Air Force, reducing execution times and improving logistics for mission preparation.
At the same time, Aerostar Bacău will also upgrade the purchased F-16 aircraft to the next standard, reports noted.
Romania most recently purchased 32 F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from Norway, at a cost of 388 million euros ($421.74 million).