Romania hosts seventh Black Sea Defence and Aerospace Exhibition

In May, Romania hosted the Black Sea Defence and Aerospace Exhibition (BDSA), which saw 270 companies from 25 different countries exhibit to delegations from Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Egypt, Lebanon, Lithuania, Pakistan, Portugal and Vietnam. The event was held in Bucharest and opened on the 18th May. Exhibitors included some of the world's biggest arms manufacturers, such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Thales, as well as smaller companies marketing specialist equipment or services. A large range of equipment was on display at BDSA, including tanks, fight jets, assault rifles, helicopters, and missiles.

Romania has recently committed to increasing it's defence spending to meet the NATO requirement of 2% of GDP, and has committed to spending 40% of that increase on new military hardware, making the country attractive to companies building military hardware. In early 2018, Romania signed a contract worth over a billion dollars with General Dynamics to supply up to 227 PIRHANA 5 armoured vehicles to the Romania military, built by a consortium of companies in Romania.