Romania’s Piranha 5 programme is already facing potential delays as General Dynamics European Land Systems-Mowag (GDELS-Mowag) has yet to deliver the first batch of 30 vehicles, Defence Minister Gabriel Leş said on Facebook on 22 March.
The first eight Piranha 5s were delivered to Romania during the third quarter of 2018. (Romanian MoD)
In his post the minister stated, “According to contractual provisions, the first 36 products should have been delivered within 12 months of the signing of the resulting contract. However, there is a delay and we are still in the 60-day [grace] period in which the company could deliver.”
Leş told the Agerpres news agency on 6 March, “Sometime in the middle of January, the first 36 functional vehicles had to be delivered, and in the last acceptance tests, the turret did not pass these tests.”
The first eight Piranha 5s were delivered to Romania during the third quarter of 2018, but there were reports at the time that the Elbit turrets had not been delivered on time and that the vehicles would be paraded without them.
Leş added that if the 60-day grace period is exceeded without the completion of deliveries to a satisfactory standard, the contract signed between GDELS-Mowag and Romania had a penalty clause built into it.
Romania is understood to have paid an advance for the production of the vehicles equal to 30% of the total contract, which is valued in excess of USD1 billion.
GDELS-Mowag declined to comment.
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