On 8 August 2023, the Romanian Ministry of Defence announced the cancellation of its corvette decision made in 2019. The then successful Naval Group and the partner company had not met the deadline for signing the contract, it said. The first corvette was originally expected by 2022 and the entire programme was to be completed within seven years.
Naval Group successful
On 2 July 2019, the French Naval Group was notified that it had won the Romanian bidding competition for the construction of four multi-purpose corvettes and the refit of two Type 22 frigates (ex "HMS London" - "Regina Maria", ex "HMS Coventry" - "Regele Ferdinand"). This package, which was originally estimated to cost 1.6 billion euros, also included a training centre and the development of a maintenance centre for the Romanian fleet. Naval Group's Gowind design won out over Damen (Netherlands) and Fincantieri (Italy). The French shipbuilder entered the competition in cooperation with the Santierul Naval Constanta (SNC) shipyard on the Black Sea coast. Other Romanian companies such as the Icepronav design office and Bucharest-based Interactive (for communication systems) were also involved. The programme should secure more than 400 jobs over five years.
Competing suppliers had also integrated cooperation with Romanian shipyards into their bids - such as Damen with Damen Shipyards Mangalia (in Mangalia) and Șantierul Naval Galați (in Galati), Fincantieri with Vard in Tulcea and Braila. The Dutch had lodged an appeal against the decision with the Romanian National Council for Solving Complaints and at the same time filed a complaint with the Bucharest Tribunal. Damen's offer (1.25 billion euros) was only slightly higher than that of the Naval Group (1.2 billion euros), while Fincantieri put the project at 1.3 billion euros.
Other priorities?
There is speculation about the actual reasons for the cancellation. Were budgetary considerations the decisive factor, or were defence policy priorities behind it? With the nearby Russian war against Ukraine, fundamental priorities have shifted. The following procurements are currently apparent.
On 25 April 2023, the Turkish Baykar announced the conclusion of a contract with Romania for 18 Bayraktar TB2 combat drones worth €293 million (USD 321 million). At the beginning of January 2023, the Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Raytheon Missiles & Defence a contract worth €187 million (USD 208.74 million) to supply the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) to Romania. Since April 2023, information has also been circulating about the purchase of 54 Abrams tanks (M1A2) in the USA with an investment value of just over one billion euros. In this context, the Naval News in May 2023 on a Romanian parliamentary decision to procure two French Scorpène-class submarines and two British Sandown-class minesweepers on the second-hand market. As the Romanian navy only has one non-operational Russian Kilo-class submarine and four older minesweepers, and sea mines repeatedly became a threat to shipping off the Romanian coast during the Russian war, this is understandable. Otherwise, it remains to be seen whether the national situation will consolidate.
Addendum from 16/08/2023: On 10 August 2023, it was announced that the Romanian Ministry of Defence had submitted an application to parliament to approve the procurement of 32 F-35 Lightning 2 fighter jets - a procurement worth around 5.9 billion euros. So that's where the journey is heading!
Addendum from 17/08/2023: As a neighbour of the Ukrainian war zone and as a NATO member, Romania has increased its budget share for defence spending to 2.5% PIB and started a process of modernising its armed forces. This was announced by President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and Defence Minister Angel Tilvar on 15 August 2023 in the port city of Constanza on the occasion of Romanian Navy Day. The day before, a mine that had drifted from Ukrainian waters exploded on a quay wall in the Black Sea holiday resort of Costinesti - causing no personal injury but destroying the harbour facilities.
The position of the French Group Naval in this dispute also remains unclear. Following the contractual submarine disaster with Australia, it would be a further cancellation of the contract with the state-owned shipyard consortium, which is not good for the French shipbuilding industry.
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Sounds quite plausible, the USA has its policy secured by other nations, which have to buy the weapons from them. Maximum benefit for two costs. Runs