Several Elbit System sites in Europe have been targeted by demonstrators protesting against the firm’s role in the Gaza conflict [Getty]
Israel’s Elbit Systems is preparing to start delivery of Watchkeeper X drones to Romania under a 1.89 billion lei ($428.75 million) contract, the company said on Monday, after the Romanian defence minister threatened last week to cancel the deal due to delays.
The deal for seven unmanned aircraft systems was signed in 2022, with deliveries due to start in 2025.
“Despite the challenges arising from the exceptional security situation in Israel, which has been recognised as a force majeure event by the company’s customers worldwide, the project has been given high priority,” Elbit Systems said in an emailed response to Reuters queries.
“The systems are ready to undergo final acceptance tests in Romania toward the end of April, subject to approval by the Romanian regulatory authorities.”
It said the drones were being manufactured in Romania.
Romania, a European Union and NATO member, shares a 650-km (400-mile) land border with Ukraine and has had drones breach its airspace and fragments fall onto its territory since Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports located across the Danube from Romania.
Greece on Monday also signed a deal to buy rocket-launchers from Elbit System.
According to a Greek source with knowledge of the deal, the contract signed on Monday provides for the purchase of some 690 million euros’ ($797 million) worth of Elbit’s Precise & Universal Launching System (PULS).
In 2024, Greece announced a plan to splash 26 billion euros by 2036 to modernise its armed forces, including by replacing now-obsolete air-defence systems with up-to-date versions.
Under conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Athens has increased its cooperation with Israel on defence matters, with both sides finding common ground over their shared tensions with Turkey.
While generally a staunch ally of Israel, Mitsotakis has however warned that the country risks losing friends as a result of the war in Gaza, which in two years killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians.
Several Elbit System sites in Europe have been targeted by demonstrators protesting against the firm’s role in the Gaza conflict.