Constantin Pintilie – CEO BlueSpace Technology: We will not have a strong defense industry without an open partnership between Romanian private companies and the state

Do you know the difference between the Jungle and Zoo? The animals look the same except that the zoo animals have food at set times and sleep at noon (no stress of tomorrow), and the animals in the jungle eat when they catch and sometimes, they are also caught in their turn.

This is the reality today in the Romanian defense industry, state versus private.

We operate in a motley, disorganized, mercantilist industry, adapted to the Romanian market of supplying imported products/solutions on demand. The Research and Development (R&D) area is weak, sometimes non-existent, with no further acquisition of developed products.

A change is needed, first and foremost in the attitude of government agencies towards the private environment. The “similar experience” part of the tender positions us (private companies in Romania) often as “second-hand” for foreigners, although this is far from the case.

As founder of the only company in Romania certified at NATO level, BlueSpace Technology, I wish along with my team to meet the beneficiary with modern solutions, to inform and make him aware of the technological solutions required, to be partners in our country.

These are 3 important pillars around which I believe we must take immediate action: education and research, state defense industry and private defense industry.

Interconnection between educational institutions and private entities for continuous coordination of testing and subsequent marketing of the product in the national economy is a priority. We need the projects developed by governmental research and educational entities to be sold/put at the disposal of Romanian national companies.

Stimulating research can be achieved by launching procurement-type R&D projects (e.g. the American model) – at the end of a competition based on analysis and operational testing there should be a clearly defined procurement from the beginning. In state industry organization and restructuring by market direction and category is required, outsourcing and pooling of indirect services, hiring experienced managers from the private sector and introducing KPIs, partnering with internal and external private units to develop new products and purchasing licenses to accelerate the introduction of new products to the market. Last but not least, private industry must be at the decision-making table that influences the whole industry, and this requires facilitating partnerships with the Romanian state-owned industry, meetings with end-users and identification of technological needs and obtaining forecasts from government agencies for the coming years so that we can have a coherent investment strategy.

BlueSpace Technology is a 100% Romanian company founded in 2016, the only private company producing TEMPEST equipment in Eastern Europe and the only NATO-accredited company. In Romania, BlueSpace Technology is the market leader in the development and integration of indoor and outdoor firing ranges. The differentiating factor is its own production, research and development capacity, which provides flexibility, speed and expertise dedicated to finding the best solutions for: electromagnetic shielding, software applications, engineering solutions, radio and telecommunications.

The company launched the first Romanian armored vehicle, the VLAH project, for the first time in Romania. It is the first combat vehicle in the range of light armored tactical vehicles (ATBTU), designed and developed with Romanian resources and know-how.

Full article: https://www.zf.ro/opinii/opinie-constantin-pintilie-ceo-bluespace-technology-nu-vom-putea-21560556