DefMin Mosteanu: We aim to finalise discussions on drone production with concrete joint venture between Romania-Ukraine

 Minister of National Defence Ionut Mosteanu said on Friday that there is a desire to finalise discussions with the Ukrainian side regarding drone production through a "concrete" joint venture between Romania and the neighbouring country."Regarding the construction of drones together with Ukrainian manufacturers - Ukraine was forced to innovate rapidly in order to defend its citizens and territory and they have done so, they are among the global leaders in everything related to drone production. Necessity, as I mentioned, compelled them to be innovative, they were innovative, they are innovative, and we need, and want, to benefit from these innovations. I had discussions a little over a month ago when I was in Kyiv (...) just last week, together with the head of the chancellery, we had a meeting with the official in charge of industrial cooperation at Ukraine's Ministry of Defence. We are about to sign a letter of intent, followed by further steps that will lead to the creation of a joint venture between a Romanian company and a Ukrainian company. The objective is to fund a drone production project through the SAFE Programme, and as you know, the deadlines under SAFE are the end of November for the project shortlist and May 2026 for the signing of contracts. Thus, discussions are ongoing, and we aim to finalise them with a concrete joint venture between Romania and Ukraine," Mosteanu told a press conference at Victoria Palace.He also mentioned that last week he held initial talks with his counterparts from Eastern Flank countries and the European Commissioner for Defence and Space regarding the creation of a "drone wall" at EU level."The drone wall is a proposal from the European Commission which, for now, has not been realised in any way. Last Friday, I had an initial discussion with Commissioner Kubilius and with the Defence Ministers from the Eastern Flank. At that meeting we all called for a new financial instrument in the form of grants and for rapid cooperation to increase air-defence capacity. We, Romania and the Eastern Flank countries that are NATO members, want defensive capabilities. We are not attacking anyone, and that must be made very, very clear, we are talking about drones, and most of the drones currently being manufactured are not interceptor drones but attack drones... We do not need attack drones, we need interceptor drones, a type of drone which is still under development and Ukraine still has a lot of work to do here. (...) This is an industrial development process for these interceptor drones that is ongoing and will continue at a rapid pace in the coming months and years. So the idea that anyone already knows exactly how many drones we need would, again, be rash to state. I say that we want to be part of the solution to this problem and we will be part of the solution to this problem," Ionut Mosteanu conveyed.Asked how many drone operators the Romanian Army currently has and whether there is a specialised unit for operating them, the minister replied: "I don't have exact information on the number of drone operators. Likewise, we don't have a dedicated drone operator unit. That is an ongoing discussion, whether to concentrate everything in a single unit or whether each unit should have its own specific drones, most drones are used for reconnaissance and this supports modern equipment or modern warfare, as it has been redefined in Ukraine, has shown how important it is to have 'eyes', the ability to see beyond the line of sight for various types of equipment, such as tanks. And this is part of the plan that will be implemented in the coming years, but it remains an open discussion. The Ministry of Defence is looking for the most efficient solution, again, by looking at the war in Ukraine, seeing what other countries are doing, and collaborating with allies."