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May, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
“One thing about the military market is that the standards are exacting,” Negulescu said. “If we can meet those standards, we can certainly meet commercial UAV standards.”
Romania is a good place to test target UAV tech- nology because it minimizes the red tape needed to schedule target flights, Popp said. In a country like Israel, which has some of the world’s best UAV technology, a target test flight can take sig- nificantly longer to arrange, he said. In addition to sales to the Romanian military, AFT has sold UAVs to law enforcement agencies in Romania and Serbia.
Still, the Romanian government still buys most of its equipment overseas, ignoring homegrown technology. The notion that a local company can- not match best-in-class technology is so deep- rooted that Romanian media have mistakenly reported that AFT was acquiring foreign technol- ogy, instead of the other way around.
Negulescu wants the company to be a trailblazer in creating a robust and innovative defence industry for Romania. “Some people laugh at
the idea that a small European country like Romania can have a world-class military and defence technology industry. But it’s a question
of approach,” he said. “We have outstanding engineering talent here, some of the best in the world. We need to create an industry that is focused on adding innovative value to existing, cutting-edge US and NATO military products, as well as carving out a leadership position in the engineering of niche military and defence technologies like small tactics UAVs and laser weapon systems.”
Home-grown defence industries not only give NATO members stronger military capability, but create jobs and expands the economy, NATO officials have said. “More organic, less top-down, development of national defence industries is vital for Europe’s future,” Negulescu said. "We need
a stronger EU community, especially in light of current threats.”
An irony is that Romania produces some of the best tech experts in the world, many of whom go over- seas because they are unable to find good enough opportunities at home, he said. Negulescu would like to see that change, and helping AFT become a world-class UAV player would be a start.
“I’d like to try to help create an ecosystem of Romanian tech companies that can crack the international market,” he said.