On March 15th, General Dynamics European Land Systems` local company GDELS-Romania (GDELS-RO) signed an agreement for the creation of an industrial consortium with its strategic Romanian partner, C.N. ROMARM Uzina Mecanica Bucuresti (UMB), which marks a key milestone for the establishment of a national production capability for wheeled armored vehicles in Romania. The signing ceremony took place in the newly established vehicle production facility at UMB in Bucharest. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciuca, the Minister of National Defence, Vasile Dancu, the Minister of Economy, Florin Sp?taru, as well as the United States Charge D’ Affairs to Romania, David Muniz and GDELS President, Alfonso Ramonet.
”This strategic partnership and cooperation on our PIRANHA 5, one of the most advanced 8×8 wheeled armored vehicles in the world, demonstrates the clear and strong commitment of General Dynamics European Land Systems to become the leading and most reliable land systems supplier in Romania and for the Romanian Army”, added Marinica Mirzu, Managing Director of GDELS-Romania.
“This consortium agreement between our companies represents a key element of our national security and makes the PIRANHA 5 program one of the best examples on how to bring advanced vehicle technology to our country”, stated Mihai Rafiu, Managing Director of UMB.
In January 2018, and as part of the Romanian Army’s plans to modernize its legacy wheeled armored vehicle fleet, GDELS signed a contract with the Romanian Ministry of Defence to deliver up to 227 PIRANHA 5 wheeled armoured vehicles in six different configurations. With production progressing as planned, over 60 locally produced PIRANHA 5 vehicles have been delivered by GDELS to the Romanian Army since the program was launched. The signature of an industrial consortium between GDELS-RO and UMB will bring this strategic cooperation between General Dynamics and Romania to a next level and is intended to assure the security of supply of PIRANHA 5 vehicles in the country.
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) is a Europe based business unit of General Dynamics Corporation. Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, General Dynamics European Land Systems is led by Alfonso Ramonet. GDELS employ some 2,400 highly skilled and motivated people and GDELS are at home at company sites in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. The company products range from wheeled armored and tracked combat vehicles to amphibious bridges and ferry systems, with people all around the world relying on our systems and services. In 2003 it acquired Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH (SSF), the land defense vehicles unit of Steyr-Daimler-Puch and General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada (GDLS-C), a subsidiary of General Dynamics based in London, Ontario, purchased GM Defense from General Motors. It supplies such armored vehicles as the LAV-25, the Stryker, and other models based on these chassis. SSF merged into the General Dynamics European Land Systems unit.