DefMin Fifor says Naval Forces prepare to finalise conception on 3 submarines for Army endowment

National Defence Minister Mihai Fifor stated on Saturday that the Naval Forces are preparing to finalise the conception related to the three submarines that the Romanian Army wishes in its endowment.

"The discussion regarding the submarines is still ongoing. The Naval Forces are preparing to finalise the conception of the three submarines that the Romanian Army wants in its endowment, submarines which we want to build in a shipyard of Romania, as is the case of the corvettes. Probably a lot of people said we had science-fiction ideas. I tell you not. A few months ago, we were in Greece, with our colleagues. We have seen the construction capabilities of the submarines that we also want at the Black Sea and in the endowment of the Romanian Naval Forces. It is an industrial project that I believe it can be put into practice without any problems in Romania as well. As soon as the Naval Forces finalise the conception for the submarine endowment, we will submit this submarine endowment project to the Romanian Parliament and the CSAT [the Supreme Council for National Defence] for the necessary approvals and we will also need to identify the budget resource for achieving this goal. We are not talking about a short or medium-term project, we are talking about a long-term project because, for now, the main endowment programmes are already ongoing," Fifor told an event organised in Vaslui.

He underscored that in the context in which Romania is the main provider of security and stability in the Black Sea, it must have very well established deterrence and assurance capability of this part of the eastern flank.

"In the context of the illegal occupation by the Russian Federation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, things have been very tense in the Black Sea. There are challenges and we have been talking about these things. Therefore, it is natural for Romania, which is the main supplier of security and stability in the Black Sea, to be able to have a very well established deterrence and assurance capability of this part of the Eastern flank. For this, we basically have this allocation [2 percent of the GDP] and for that, Romania's Government is making all the efforts so that the major endowment programmes of the Romanian Armed Forces can be carried out. This year in February, we already paid the first HIMARS missile system, we are in the phase in which we are preparing to pay the second Patriot missiles system, we have in full swing the acquisition procedure for the four multi-functional corvettes from the offset of which there will be upgraded two frigates that we've bought from the British Navy a few years ago and here we are, this week, with a new programme, the one regarding the coastal batteries or the mobile missile launching systems," the Defense Minister said.

Mihai Fifor is attending the events organised in Vaslui for the celebration of the Greater Union Centennial and the commemoration of 75 years since the death of Marshal Constantin Prezan.