Launched at Westminster on 25 November 2025, a new report argues that Romania’s accelerating defence transformation represents both an opportunity and a test for the United Kingdom. Achieving meaningful partnership will require sustained engagement, industrial reform and support for the innovation ecosystems emerging on both sides.
As Europe enters a new era of geopolitical uncertainty, Romania finds itself closer to the centre of events than at any time since joining NATO. The launch of Building Better Defence Industry Partnerships: Opportunities in the New Geopolitics at the Palace of Westminster highlighted a reality that policymakers and industry can no longer ignore: Romania’s evolving strategic posture creates both opportunity and urgency for the United Kingdom.
The report argues that Romania is “at a strategic crossroads”, reflecting its position on NATO’s eastern flank and the wider European shift toward strengthening defence resilience. With rising national investment and access to new European instruments designed to expand defence-industrial capacity, Romania now has a genuine opportunity to modernise an outdated ecosystem.
The Westminster event, hosted by Bob Blackman CBE MP and chaired by Dr David Webster, brought together experts whose insights shaped key chapters of the report. Nick Bolan of Airbus Defence and Space offered analysis on satellite-enabled military communications and future capability needs; Air Flotilla General (ret.) Adrian Duță, now Senior Advisor at KPMG Romania, outlined institutional and procurement processes; Nicoleta Grădinaru of MGNG UK discussed the commercial realities faced by international firms entering the Romanian market; and George Bara, founder of Zetta Critical, provided a case study on Romania’s emerging defence-tech landscape and the barriers young innovators face when scaling. Together, their perspectives illustrated the multidimensional nature of Romania’s transformation — from established aerospace and defence programmes to an accelerating wave of sophisticated dual-use technologies.
The event drew a broad audience from across the defence community, including representatives from the UK Ministry of Defence, UK Trade and Investment, aerospace and defence specialists, and members of both the Romanian and Ukrainian defence-tech ecosystems. Also present were a former UK Defence Attaché who had served in Bucharest, as well as retired officers from the RAF and Royal Navy. Their presence underscored the significance attached to the themes raised in the report and the growing strategic interest in UK–Romania cooperation.
The report’s preparation was supported by a coalition of organisations active across the legal, advisory, technology and venture sectors. Wolf Theiss Romania offered specialist expertise on industrial cooperation and procurement frameworks; KPMG Romania contributed analysis on capability development and institutional processes; and innovation partners including Activize, How to Web and Underline Ventures added insights into dual-use and early-stage defence-tech ecosystems. Additional contributors from both countries helped shape several analytical chapters through interviews and sector-specific input.
Complementing these practitioner perspectives, the report’s foreword — written by General (ret.) Daniel Petrescu, former Chief of the Romanian Defence Staff — adds a strategic military lens shaped by extensive NATO experience and long-standing cooperation with UK counterparts. His contribution highlights both the progress Romania has made toward full NATO interoperability and the deeper structural reforms still required.
Geopolitical Context: UK–Romania Defence Cooperation Intensifies
The launch of the report comes at a time when UK–Romania military cooperation is at its highest level in decades. In November 2024, the two governments signed a new Defence Cooperation Agreement in London — a comprehensive framework covering twenty-five areas, from air-traffic management and hybrid-threat response to training, personnel exchanges and joint operations. The agreement also establishes a bilateral committee meeting annually, alternating between London and Bucharest, to monitor progress and identify new areas of collaboration.
This political framework is already visible in operational practice. NATO air-policing missions carried out by RAF Typhoons at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, along with the United Kingdom’s substantial contribution to Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 — involving more than two thousand personnel and hundreds of vehicles — illustrate the intensifying readiness and interoperability between the two nations.
All these perspectives converge on the report’s central message: modernisation cannot be achieved through procurement alone. Romania’s defence-industrial foundations, institutional processes and innovation pathways must evolve in parallel if the country is to become a meaningful contributor to Europe’s defence resilience. As Dr Webster notes: “British companies have often overlooked the potential of the Romanian market… If they’ve failed to build good local relationships this pot of cash might still be beyond them.”
One of the most significant structural challenges lies in the legacy of the state-owned defence conglomerate. ROMARM, the holding structure overseeing most of Romania’s state defence enterprises, illustrates the difficulty of modernising an industrial base built for a different era. Channelling European instruments into inherited structures risks limiting impact rather than expanding capability. Reforming governance, ownership and institutional direction is framed not as criticism but as a prerequisite for developing a competitive, modern defence sector.
This institutional dimension extends to procurement. Despite recent efforts to improve testing and evaluation frameworks, procurement remains widely seen as difficult to navigate, favouring large incumbents and offering limited pathways for emerging technologies. Contributors stressed that clearer processes, better dialogue and a more agile institutional culture are essential if Romania is to build credible long-term capability.
Romania’s innovation landscape reflects this same duality. The country has an exceptional pool of engineers and software talent, yet its defence-oriented innovation ecosystem remains young. This “defence-tech paradox” — high technical capacity but limited institutional support — was a recurring theme during the event. It is why international partnerships, dual-use initiatives and early-stage venture programmes are becoming increasingly important for Romania’s next generation of innovators.
When the discussion turned to what Romania might look like by 2030, the outlook was cautiously optimistic. If procurement reform advances, if innovation frameworks mature and if industrial structures adapt, Romania could enter the next decade with a significantly more competitive defence industry and strengthened operational capability.
The question is whether Romania will help shape the future European defence ecosystem or watch it develop elsewhere.
This opportunity sits within a broader context of deepening UK–Romania defence cooperation. Recent government and NATO initiatives have intensified collaboration — from joint air-policing and training programmes to wider interoperability efforts across the Alliance. These developments give the bilateral relationship renewed strategic relevance and provide a practical foundation for the industrial partnerships explored in the report.
For UK companies, the report identifies several natural points of alignment where British capabilities match Romania’s evolving needs. The country’s modernisation spans air, land, maritime, communications and emerging technology domains, generating opportunities for UK strengths in system integration, secure communications, satellite-enabled services, training and simulation, strategic advisory work and advanced dual-use technologies. But the message is consistent: success depends on early engagement, sustained presence, credible local partnerships and a genuine understanding of Romania’s institutional landscape.
UK/Romania Business — the organisation behind the report — sits at the centre of this effort. Its mission is to deepen bilateral engagement across government, industry and the innovation community, and to help UK companies understand the potential of one of Europe’s most strategically positioned emerging markets. Through analysis, dialogue and practical collaboration, it aims to ensure that Romania’s growing strategic relevance is met with informed and consistent UK engagement.
As Europe confronts a rapidly shifting security landscape, the stakes could not be clearer. Romania has the need, ambition and talent. The United Kingdom has experience, capabilities and a long-standing alliance. If both sides seize the moment, the partnership has the potential to shape the future of defence innovation and industrial cooperation in the region.
Opportunities of this scale do not come often. In the current strategic climate, neither country can afford to let this one pass.
By Cristina Irimie
