Priority on Ukraine: Israeli Elbit Systems Halts Modernization of Romanian IAR-99 Aircraft
The Israeli defense company Elbit Systems has redirected its resources to deals with companies holding contracts to assist Ukraine, which will delay the modernization of Romania’s IAR-99 aircraft.
The aircraft manufacturer Avioane Craiova has already approached the Romanian government, requesting an exemption from penalties for the delay in modernization, Agerpres reports.
The reason is the position of the Israeli partner Elbit Systems, which declared force majeure and halted the delivery of software for the IAR Șoim (IAR-99) aircraft.
Radu Miruță, Romania’s Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism, shared the details during a press conference. According to him, Elbit stated that it had been instructed to suspend other projects to allocate resources to deals with other companies supplying defense equipment to Ukraine.
“Essentially, Elbit Systems referred to the fact that due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, many organizations around the world are asking them to prioritize support for Ukraine. Therefore, according to them, they were unable to deliver some of what they were supposed to supply to Romania on time, which exempts them from delay-related provisions. Avioane Craiova, which bears the main burden of this delay, also conveys this argument to those to whom it must pay for the delay. This is a commercial and legal discussion among these three organizations.”
As a result, Avioane Craiova is unable to fulfill its contractual obligations to the Romanian Ministry of Defense, which has already imposed fines totaling €3.6 million. At the same time, the company is seeking a compromise solution to avoid financial losses.
Miruță explained that Avioane Craiova was supposed to deliver several modernized IAR-99 aircraft to the Ministry of Defense, which depends on software developed by the Israeli partner.
“We have contacted Elbit, are carefully reviewing the contract, and are trying to reasonably obtain the necessary software. Two weeks ago, a partial software transfer took place, pilots conducted test flights, and the aircraft showed significant improvement,” the minister said.
According to him, specialists are currently finalizing the software settings, after which some of the aircraft are planned to be delivered to the Romanian Armed Forces.
In response to journalists’ questions about how the Ministry of Defense is reacting, Miruță explained that the Ministry is analyzing the possibility of recognizing the force majeure cited by Avioane Craiova. This concerns only one period of the contract’s execution, not the entire term of the agreement.
Ukraine and priorities
Elbit Systems justifies its decision by the war in Ukraine.
According to the company, many international partners asked it to prioritize support for Ukraine’s defense, which caused delays in deliveries to Romania. Elbit insists that this exempts it from responsibility for the delay.
Previously, Victor Peța, head of the Avioane Craiova Free Trade Union, appealed to Minister of Defense Ionuț Moșteanu, asking him to intervene so that the company would not be penalized for the delay in modernizing the IAR-99 aircraft used for F-16 pilot training.
He emphasized that the company is not at fault and that the fines could lead to a financial disaster and jeopardize the state’s army modernization program.
According to the trade union leader, five modernized aircraft are already ready and have logged over 150 flight hours. Still, they have not yet been certified due to the absence of the final version of the software, which Elbit was to provide.
Under the terms of the agreement, Elbit Systems was supposed to equip the aircraft with modern avionics, an integrated virtual training system for real-time exercises, and systems for deploying air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons.
This year, Romania started working on integrating the IRIS-T missile into the locally produced, modernized IAR-99 SM training and combat aircraft.
