Romania seeks close air support helicopter for land forces

Romania is looking to procure a close air support (CAS) helicopter with secondary troop transport, cargo, and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) capabilities, according to a solicitation posted on the US Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website on 7 September.

A Request for Information (RFI) for such a platform was issued by the US Army on behalf of the Romanian Land Forces on 7 September, janes.com reports, quoted by hotnews.ro.

According to the RfI, the platform will be capable of providing CAS for ground troops at an altitude of 300 ft or less; engaging armoured vehicles; using infrared and other target acquisition systems; day-and-night and all-weather operations; transport of personnel and cargo; performing MEDEVAC; providing command and control (C2); and having US Army or equivalent US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certifications or modifications.

Interested parties are to supply the US Army with the aircraft make and model; mission kits and configurations that meet the customer’s requirements (including qualification material); aircraft performance specifications (with and without the mission kits); estimate recurring and non-recurring costs; operating costs; production lead time; and available training packages.

Responses are to be submitted by 14 September.

The Romanian Land Forces does not currently operate any aviation assets, so it is hard to gauge the likely platform based on any existing assets that might be in need of replacement (all aircraft are fielded by the Romanian Air Force and Navy). However, based on the requirements there are a number of platforms that could fulfil such a mission set, including (but not limited to) the Airbus Helicopters H145M; Airbus Helicopters H215M; Airbus Helicopters H225M; Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior (photo); Bell 407GT; Bell UH-1Y Venom; Boeing AH-6i; and MD Helicopters Inc MD 530F.

Given Romania’s likely tight budget for such a procurement, the most likely candidate would be the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, which the US Army is selling off as surplus to requirements.