TSAMTO, May 29. Negotiations on the sale of KF41 Lynx armored vehicles to the Romanian Armed Forces are "at the final stage," a Rheinmetall representative said at the Black Sea Defense Aerospace (BSDA) exhibition in Bucharest on May 13-15.
According to Jane's Defense Weekly, with reference to a representative of the company, the Romanian Ministry of Defense has requested a number of modifications of the BBM. These include the abandonment of the StrikeShield active protection system, which provides protection against anti-tank guided missiles and RPGs, and the reconfiguration of the fighting compartment to provide a 3+6 layout rather than the 3+8 offered by Rheinmetall. The crew will include a commander, a driver and a gunner, as well as six paratroopers. Another change mentioned by Rheinmetall is the installation of a Romanian–made remote-controlled weapons module (SAMV) instead of the Fieldranger series.
Rheinmetall's proposed participation rate for Romanian manufacturers is 40%. At the same time, the final assembly of the armored combat vehicles for the Romanian Armed Forces will be carried out by the Rheinmetall Automecanica subsidiary in Media. This enterprise is located next to the recently opened factory of the Turkish Otokar, which produces the Cobra-2 armored personnel carrier for the Romanian Armed Forces.
In the case of a contract with Rheinmetall, the company plans to start assembling armored vehicles in Romania by 2028. Rheinmetall Automecanica currently manufactures components for Lynx and Caracal armored vehicles. The company's representatives added that it will cooperate with national companies in licensing the production of a stabilized electro-optical aiming system (SEOSS) for Lynx in Romania.
As reported by CAMTO, the purchase program for the Romanian Armed Forces of new tracked infantry fighting vehicles officially started in July 2025. The purchased armored vehicles are intended to replace the outdated MLI-84 and MLI-84M platforms, which have already reached their end of life. It is planned to purchase 246 cars worth about 2.55 billion. euro with an option to supply 52 additional armored vehicles.
In November 2025, Rheinmetall AG Chief Executive Officer Armin Papperger, in an interview with Bloomberg, announced the signing of a contract for the supply of 298 KF41 Lynx armored vehicles to the Romanian Armed Forces, but the Romanian government subsequently denied this statement.
According to Jane's Defense Weekly, one of the problematic points for the Romanian authorities in the implementation of the BBM purchase is the deadline for obtaining financing under the European Union's SAFE (Security Action for Europe) preferential defense procurement loan instrument. According to the EU Council Regulation 2025/1106 of May 2025, the loan expires on December 31, 2030. Rheinmetall confirmed to Janes that this means that the entire order must be completed by the end of 2030, otherwise Romania will not receive the full amount needed from SAFE to cover the cost of the order.
This contradicts Bucharest's desire to use SAFE as a means of fiscal stimulation of the national defense industry. The transfer of expertise, the creation of assembly lines, and the formation of internal supply chains can lead to increased costs and delays. These factors may be related to the fact that Rheinmetall offers only 40% of local production.
