Romania orders 12 Airbus H225M military helicopters via EU fund

The government of Romania has signed a contract to procure 12 Airbus H225M multirole military helicopters, according to a statement from Airbus (OTC: EADSY). The agreement was concluded with the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) under the European Commission's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) financial instrument.

The SAFE instrument is designed to provide financial support to EU member states for defense investments, with a focus on closing critical capability gaps.

The 12 H225Ms are intended to begin replacing Romania's existing IAR-330 Puma fleet, which is a locally produced version of the Puma built under an Aerospatiale license, for conventional and special operations missions.

Matthieu Louvot, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said the selection "will also bolster Romania's industrial capabilities through our long term partnership with IAR, Romania's sole helicopter manufacturer."

This contract marks the second signed between Romania and Airbus Helicopters under the SAFE initiative. Romania previously ordered seven H160 and five H145 helicopters for public services missions, as well as two H215Ms in naval configuration.

Airbus states that more than 350 H225s and H225Ms are currently in service, accumulating more than one million flight hours. Other H225M operators include Brazil, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Singapore, and Thailand.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Meta's Muse AI to counter China models with subscribers, not ads, Alexandr Wang says - Nikkei
• Ardelyx presents real-world Xphozah phosphate data at ASN 2026
• ZenaTech unveils AI software suite for drone land survey ops