WASHINGTON — The State Department has cleared the sale of seven Patriot missile defense systems for Romania just days after announcing a roadmap forward for landing the system in Poland.
The potential sale, which could be worth up to $3.9 billion, covers seven Patriot Configuration 3+ units, complete with radars, control station, antenna, launching stations and power plants.
Also included are 56 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM missiles and 168 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles, according to a Tuesday notice posted on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
All announcements from DSCA are subject to congressional approval and then must go through final negotiations with the potential buyer, during which the dollar total often drops from the projected figure.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin will be the prime contractors. There is no timeline for when the work will be completed in the DSCA notification.
Romania requested the Patriot systems back in April. Thirteen countries currently operate the system, with that number expected to grow when Poland completes its purchase. That situation has taken longer than expected, but Poland intends to procure eight systems.
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
