Defence Minsiter’s visit to the military naval construction sites in Istanbul and Gölcük, the Republic of Turkey

At the invitation of his counterpart Yaºar Güler, Minister of National Defence, Angel Tîlvãr, visited, on June 25 and 26, in the Republic of Turkey, alongside a delegation made up of representatives of the MoND central structures’ leadership, a series of manufacturing facilities in the field of defence industry.

The official schedule included visits to the Istanbul and Gölcük Shipyards and attending a presentation made by ASFAT leadership, a Turkish state-owned defence industry company. On this occasion, the officials talked about the company's portfolio, as well as the ways Romania can support the development of defence capabilities.

In the discussions with the representatives of the defence industry companies in Istanbul area, Minister Tîlvãr conveyed that the modernization and consolidation of the Romanian Naval Forces’ capabilities continue to be a main concern of the Ministry of National Defence, pleading, in this respect, for the enhancement of cooperation between the defence industry companies from the Republic of Turkey and Romania.

"The Ministry of National Defence remains determined to capitalize on all opportunities to connect the national defence industry with the Romanian Armed Forces procurement programs, especially through modern technology transfer, the local manufacturing of the state-of-art military equipment and the provision of maintenance options, at national level, throughout the entire duration of life-cycle of the equipment purchased through these programs", Minister Angel Tîlvãr said.

The Romanian Naval Forces have been running or planning important procurement programs, such as Mobile Anti-Ship Missile Launcher Systems, two H215M helicopters equipped with surface combat capabilities, two Sandown-class Mine-hunters - purchased through a Government-to-Government agreement between Romania and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which considerably increased our country's ability to respond to sea mine threats.
At the same time, the modernization of the T 22 frigates, the patrol ships program intended for the protection of the critical infrastructure in the Black Sea basin and the preparation for the transition to European corvettes, by participating in the European Union's joint acquisition program, EPC - European Patrol Corvette, remain priority programs which will be run by the Naval Forces.

The Press Office