Romania successfully conducts live-fire test of Patriot air defense system

Europe, News December 29, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Romania recently conducted a successful live-fire test of its Patriot air defense system, marking a significant achievement in enhancing regional security and strengthening NATO’s southeastern flank.

The first test of the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system was conducted at the Capu Midia firing range along the Black Sea coast, according to the U.S. Army statement.

The live-fire drills were held by the Romanian Army’s 74th PATRIOT Regiment, and the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command and Security Assistance Training Management Organization (SATMO) supported the test.

According to the U.S. Army statement, “Both commands played significant roles in the advancement of Romania’s air defense capabilities, from facilitating Romania’s acquisition of the PATRIOT via foreign military sales to the training of hundreds of Romanian Army troops on the U.S. system.”

The exercise played a vital role in evaluating the preparedness of the Romanian Armed Forces to deploy the sophisticated missile system. Romania acquired the first of seven PATRIOT systems in 2020 through a foreign military sales case executed by the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command.

The chief of SATMO’s Romania PATRIOT Technical Assistance Field Team, Maj. John Nastus said, “The two-day exercise consisted of four demonstrations” adding that the U.S. Army’s role for the exercise was to “help plan and coordinate it”.

U.S. Army Major Nastus highlighted that “This included helping secure the targets and ensuring they had the equipment they needed, and that subject-matter-experts were on hand should anything happen.”

The Romanian Army's 74th Patriot Regiment conducted the country's first PATRIOT missile system live-fire exercise — ^{The Romanian Army’s 74th Patriot Regiment conducted the country’s first PATRIOT missile system live-fire exercise at the Capu Midia test firing range in Romania November 15-16, 2023. (Image Credit: U.S. Army Security Assistance Command)}

During the exercise, the Romanian Patriot regiment personnel practiced operating the system at several launching stations, the radar, the engagement consultation, the electric power plant, and the antenna mask group.

Nastus highlighted that the time and commitment provided by the Patriot Technical Assistance Field Team is of “critical strategic importance,” as it “instills confidence in the operators, and the live-fire exercise just helped validate that confidence.”

Romania’s air defense systems

In November 2023, the Romanian government also unveiled its plans to spend up to $2.1 billion on procuring short-range air defense systems. According to a Romanian Ministry of Defense tender, the country is seeking mobile short-range air defense systems (SHORAD) and very short-range air defense systems (VSHORAD) from European and Israeli defense manufacturers.

Romania plans to gradually acquire at least 41 new air defense systems. Bucharest is using the Patriot system for the longer-range air defense and plans to integrate missile defense systems with the emerging NATO-wide network, known as the alliance’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense concept.

Romania Patriot PAC-2 — *^{Romanian Patriot PAC-2 system. (Image Credit: Bogdan Pantilimon/Romanian MoD)}*

Currently, Romania’s air defense mechanism relies on 4 batteries of the U.S.-made MIM-104E/F Patriot PAC-2 and GEM-T/PAC-3 long-range systems. Apart from the recently acquired air defense systems, Romania also has a Hawk Phase IIIR air defense system and 6 Soviet-era S-75M3 air defense systems.

Since Romania shares a 400-mile-long border with Ukraine, the Romanian government has significantly increased its efforts to strengthen the country’s land and aerial defense capabilities. Under the increasing pressure from its allies and the changing security situation of the region due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Romania is among several other Eastern European countries that are rapidly evaluating their defense strategy and upgrading their arsenals.