Romania and Ukraine plan €200 million joint drone production

Romania will work with Ukraine on a drone production project worth around €200 million. On 31 March, Romania’s Ministry of National Defence announced the same amount for joint production under the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument.

Production is planned in Romania

On its official SAFE page, Romania’s defence ministry describes a plan to establish regional military drone production capacity in Romania, in partnership with Ukraine. The plans include training and industrial cooperation, as well as technology transfer. SAFE is an EU instrument providing favourable loans for joint procurement of defence equipment.

The development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles were among the topics discussed by Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruță and Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Serhii Boiev on 31 March. The two also examined opportunities for technology transfer. At the time, Miruță set the end of May as the deadline for signing the contract.

That deadline does not confirm that the deal has been concluded. So far, Flank has found no confirmation that a contract has been signed or production has begun. The contractors, drone models and quantities, production sites and delivery schedules have not been announced. The ministry has specified a sum of €200 million, but this does not in itself mean that the funds have already been spent.

The project is for production, not counter-drone defence

In an interview on 5 November, the prime minister linked the cooperation to the practical experience Ukraine has gained in the war. He said he often receives overnight messages about drones reaching Romania. The strong Allied presence, he said, helps detect and shoot them down more quickly.

Agerpres reported the claim about the effect of Allied assistance. No specific incidents, systems or results were cited that would allow an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the defences.

The officially described project is for drone development and production. This is a different task from detecting and intercepting foreign drones. There is no basis for presenting the €200 million as an announced budget for counter-drone defence.

Bulgaria is involved in Black Sea cooperation

In the same interview, the prime minister said Romania was working with Bulgaria and Türkiye on Black Sea security. According to him, the mine clearance operation has been expanded and now also covers critical infrastructure. He identified protection of the Neptun Deep project as a defence priority, without disclosing specific measures.

The precise scope of the operation’s expansion has not been specified. Bulgaria is involved in Black Sea cooperation, but no Bulgarian participation in the Romanian-Ukrainian drone project has been announced. The two strands involve different participants and tasks and are not part of a single regional programme.