Determining Romanian Air Force long-term sustainment

You wouldn’t buy a new car without thinking through a solid maintenance plan.

Same goes for defense equipment. Understanding how to care for a system makes all the difference in keeping it healthy and running. 

Raytheon Missiles & Defense, one of four businesses of Raytheon Technologies, is conducting a study contracted by Romania that makes long-term sustainment a priority, indicating a strong and lasting commitment to global customers.

“The main objective is for the Romanian military to become self-sufficient to take care of their defense systems,” Mike Ellison, Requirements & Capabilities lead for Raytheon Missiles & Defense, said.

“We will partner with them to sustain their systems, and train their workforce with the capabilities, knowledge and processes,” he said.

The study, called the Patriot Long-Term Sustainment Study, is analyzing Romania’s current industrial capabilities and identifying areas where the country can invest to sustain their defense equipment. The results of the study will benefit current and future Romanian defense programs such as Patriot, and it is an approach the business can take globally. 

Job creation and autonomy

Sustaining critical systems means commitment for the long haul to help an economy grow and thrive. This means more local jobs will be created as training and sustainment plans move forward. 

With long-term sustainment, the relationship between the customer and the company would involve designing, producing and sustaining for the entire life of the system. The relationship does not end with delivery of the system. This long-term vision encourages and supports Romanian industrial participation opportunities.  

As a NATO member, Romania specifically plans to invest in upgrading its military with a 10-year plan. Romania is an emerging regional hub for NATO in the Black Sea region. 

The sustainment plan is for the Patriot system but the approach taken could also identify additional areas to explore for defense programs in the country. 

A maintenance hub

The long-term sustainment study may pave the way for a central maintenance depot to take care of air and missile defense systems. 

“The ultimate goal of standing up a central maintenance facility is to create capability in-country where systems could be maintained. Taking advantage of where Patriot gets worked on, and applying it to other future programs sets a stronger path to self-sufficiency and additional work for Romanians,” said Ellison. 

The Romanian sustainment study “lays the framework to control their own destiny and sustain any long-term capability,” said Patrick Griffin, Romanian Patriot program manager. 

This means Raytheon Missiles & Defense would work with Romania to help sustain and maintain defense systems and equipment from the hardware and software pieces to management of requirements, personnel and training, and even career development of members of the Romanian Armed Forces.

The possibility of a maintenance facility or any technology transfer would be a significant return on their defense investment and a long-term sustainment initiative. It adds to job creation, autonomy, and enhances the local economy.

In addition, long-term sustainment planning for the Romanian Patriot Program has support services provided by Raytheon Missiles & Defense through defined in-country workshops where system relation information, requests and recommendations are discussed. This enables the customer to make the best possible decisions to keep defense readiness over time. The study is looking at capability, availability and affordability.