Arms industry in Romania explained

Before 1989, Romania was among the top ten arms exporters in the world, however its arms industry declined considerably during the 1990s. Exports fell from roughly $1 billion before 1989 to about $43 million in 2006,[1] and the number of employees also fell from 220,000 in 1990 to 20,000 in 2009.[2] Sales to the Romanian Armed Forces have plunged after Romania's accession to NATO in 2004, as factories continue to produce Warsaw Pact-caliber weapons and ammunition, which are incompatible with their Western counterparts.

As of 2009, sales are roughly evenly divided between the Romanian state and foreign customers such as European Union and Arab countries such as Egypt, Algeria and Iraq.[3] Other countries which have shown interest in Romanian equipment include Afghanistan, Israel, Switzerland, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, India, Georgia and a slew of African countries.[4] There have been some signs of slight recovery, with exports reaching €141 million in 2009. However, the arms industry in Romania still lags behind neighboring countries such as Ukraine,[5] Bulgaria[6] and Serbia.[7]

In recent years, the Romanian government has called, unsuccessfully, for the lifting of the European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic of China.

Manufacturers

Weapons and equipment

Small arms

AFVs

Artillery

Aircraft

Weapons produced during World War II and the Interwar period

See also: List of Romanian military equipment of World War II.

Non-self-propelled weapons

VesselDesign/Licence OriginNumberNotes
Submachine guns
Orița M19416000+Local design, entered operational service with the Romanian Army in 1943 with a production rate of 666 pieces per month as of October 1942[8] (6,000 produced until October 1943)[9]
Machine guns
ZB vz. 3010,00010,000 licence-built locally at Cugir after Czechoslovak design,[10] with a production rate of 250 pieces per month as of October 1942[11]
Mortars
Brandt Mle 19351,115+Licence acquired from France to produce 175 mortars at the Voina Works in Brașov, but the number specified by the licence was far exceeded during the war, with a production rate of 26 pieces per month as of October 1942[12] [13] (1,115 such mortars were built in Romania by mid-1943)[14]
Brandt Mle 27/31456+Licence acquired from France to produce 410 mortars at the Voina Works in Brașov, but the number specified by the licence was far exceeded during the war, with a production rate of 30 pieces per month as of October 1942[15] [16] (456 such mortars were built in Romania by mid-1943)[17]
M1938500+Captured and reverse-engineered Soviet model, produced at the Reșița Works with a production rate of 80 pieces per month as of October 1942[18] (in total, over 500 of these mortars were built)[19]
Anti-aircraft guns
3.7 cm flak360360 produced under German licence at the Astra Works beginning with 1938, with 102 delivered by May 1941 and a production rate of 6 pieces per month as of October 1942[20]
75 mm Vickers200100 built under British licence by the Reșița Works beginning with 1936, with 100 delivered by mid-1941 and then a second batch of 100 started in July 1941 outside the licence, the production rate being of 5 pieces per month as of October 1942[21]
Anti-tank guns
47 mm Schneider140+Licence acquired from France to produce 140 guns at the Concordia Works in Ploiești, but the number specified by the licence was far exceeded during the war, with a production rate of 14 pieces per month as of October 1942[22] [23]
75 mm Reșița375Native design combining features from several foreign models, a total of 210 pieces were produced at the Reșița Works, 120 at the Astra Works in Brașov and 42 at the Concordia Works in Ploiești in addition to three prototypes[24]
Field artillery
100 mm Skoda-The Astra Works in Romania manufactured gun barrels for these pieces[25]
150 mm Skoda-The Astra Works in Romania manufactured gun barrels for these pieces[26]

Romanian monthly armament production (October 1942)[27]

ModelNumber
Orița M1941 submachine gun 666
ZB vz. 30 machine gun 250
Brandt 60 mm mortar 26
Brandt 81 mm mortar 30
M1938 120 mm mortar 80
Rheinmetall 37 mm AA gun 6
Vickers 75 mm AA gun 5
Schneider 47 mm AT gun 14

AFVs

See main article: Romanian armored fighting vehicle production during World War II.

Aircraft

Warships

Weapons produced during World War I and prior

See main article: Romanian military equipment of World War I.

Artillery

Aircraft

Warships

Notes and References

  1. Web site: INVESTITII: In transeele industriei de armament.
  2. Web site: Firmele româneşti de armament vor ca România să urgenteze semnarea Co… . https://archive.today/20120907050615/http://www.money.ro/intern-1/firmele-romanesti-de-armament-vor-ca-romania-sa-urgenteze-semnarea-codurilor-de-conduita-ale-eda.html . 7 September 2012 . dead.
  3. Web site: Industria de armament a vândut, în 2009, produse militare de 100 de milioane euro, spun producătorii - Cotidianul . 2009-11-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091113060024/http://www.cotidianul.ro/industria_de_armament_a_vandut_in_2009_produse_militare_de_100_de_milioane_euro_spun_producatorii-103019.html . 2009-11-13 .
  4. Web site: Industria de armament nu se preda . https://archive.today/20120716065451/http://stiri.rol.ro/content/view/478645/5/ . 16 July 2012 . dead.
  5. News: Anya . Tsukanova . Pirates shine spotlight on Ukraine arms-trafficking . Manila Times . October 7, 2008 . 30 December 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081211040341/http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/07/yehey/opinion/20081007opi8.html . 11 December 2008 .
  6. Web site: Bulgaria's Arms Export Totals US$250 Million Annually . 2009-11-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090818035832/http://paper.standartnews.com/archive/2003/10/21/english/business/s3880_2.htm . 2009-08-18 . dead .
  7. Web site: Archived copy . 2009-11-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091122222303/http://www.seesac.org/uploads/armsexport/Godisnji_izvestaj_2007.pdf . 2009-11-22 .
  8. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  9. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 149
  10. John Walter, Greenhill Books, 2004, Guns of the Third Reich, p. 86
  11. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  12. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 29-30 and 75
  13. Great Britain. Foreign Office, Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1944, Rumania Basic Handbook, p. 27
  14. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 147, 76 and 29
  15. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 29-30 and 75
  16. Great Britain. Foreign Office, Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1944, Rumania Basic Handbook, p. 27
  17. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 147, 76 and 29
  18. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  19. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, photo album between pages 96 and 97 (page 12 of the album)
  20. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 30 and 75
  21. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 30 and 75
  22. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 29-30 and 75
  23. Great Britain. Foreign Office, Ministry of Economic Warfare, 1944, Rumania Basic Handbook, p. 27
  24. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, pp. 149 and 235-237
  25. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 29
  26. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 29
  27. Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 75
  28. Francesco Sorge, Giuseppe Genchi, Springer, 2015, Essays on the History of Mechanical Engineering, p. 144
  29. Francesco Sorge, Giuseppe Genchi, Springer, 2015, Essays on the History of Mechanical Engineering, p. 144
  30. Francesco Sorge, Giuseppe Genchi, Springer, 2015, Essays on the History of Mechanical Engineering, p. 144
  31. Morgała, Andrzej (1997), Samoloty wojskowe w Polsce 1918-1924 [Military aircraft in Poland 1918-1924] (in Polish), Warsaw: Lampart, pp. 63 and 69
  32. Bernád, Dénes, Rumanian Air Force: The Prime Decade 1938-1947, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications Inc, 1999, p. 45
  33. Spencer C. Tucker, World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia, p. 633
  34. Adrian Storea, Gheorghe Băjenaru, Artileria română în date și imagini(Romanian artillery in data and pictures), p. 54 (in Romanian)
  35. Adrian Storea, Gheorghe Băjenaru, Artileria română în date și imagini (Romanian artillery in data and pictures), p. 63 (in Romanian)

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