Moldova plans domestic drone production
The Republic of Moldova plans to develop its own drone and anti-drone production capabilities by attracting private investment and establishing partnerships with companies that possess advanced technologies in the field. To achieve this, the authorities are preparing legislative amendments that would allow investments and public-private partnerships in the defense industry, President Maia Sandu announced, according to Deschide.md.
Moldova must strengthen its drone defense systems amid repeated incidents involving drones on its territory and in the wider region, Sandu said, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
"The Republic of Moldova must strengthen its anti-drone system, as well as its electronic jamming capabilities. These are two areas we are currently working on. We need to begin producing anti-drones capable of intercepting and bringing down hostile drones," Maia Sandu stated.
She explained that the current legal framework does not allow such projects to be developed together with private investors, which is why the government has been tasked with preparing the necessary legislative changes.
"I asked the government, particularly in light of recent events, to begin preparing amendments to the legislation. On the one hand, the state must produce these drones and anti-drones, but on the other hand, we must also allow the private sector to participate. Our state does not possess the latest technologies, nor do we currently have specialists trained in this field. However, there are foreign investors who already have these technologies. Today's legislation does not permit such public-private partnerships or private foreign and local investments in this sector," Sandu said.
She added that the government intends to create a legal framework that would attract investment and facilitate cooperation between the state and private companies.
"We will amend the law and try to attract investments, first of all to establish public-private partnerships, but also, potentially, foreign investments. We need these interceptor drones to counter the drones that are increasingly entering our territory and creating real dangers," the president said.
Sandu also noted that although Moldovan legislation has so far restricted the development of a modern defense industry, investigations revealed that components for Russia's military-industrial complex had previously been produced on Moldovan territory, particularly in the Transnistrian region.
"Those who want our country to remain completely defenseless must understand that there is a risk of drones literally falling on our heads while we do nothing. Even though the law did not allow the production of weapons and ammunition, we discovered that before our government came to power, components for the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation were nevertheless produced in the Republic of Moldova. These were manufactured by both state-owned enterprises and private companies with Russian capital," Sandu said.
The president also emphasized that Moldova hopes to benefit from Ukraine's expertise in drone warfare and air defense technologies.
"Ukrainians are the best in the world at intercepting drones. They have some of the world's leading experts in this field. Of course, we will try to obtain technology from them, to the extent that we have the capacity to do so. But before you can use such technology, you need to build a team and establish a minimum level of expertise here. That is why I discussed this issue with the government and the Ministry of Defense and requested that we move quickly in this direction," Maia Sandu said.
Photo: X
