Romania becomes the second country to receive US loan to buy US arms.....

Romania to get a U.S. State Department loan of $920 million so it can buy U.S.-made Abrams tanks and ammunition, it was announced on Wednesday.

The Foreign Military Financing (FMF) loan to Romania, is the second one of its type, the first was given to Poland in September last year and was for a whopping $2 billion back then and an additional $ 2 billion in July this year. 

These FMF loans come with conditions attached, mainly that money has to be spent on U.S.-made military items, such as tanks, amphibious vehicles, missiles, rockets and even fighter aircraft. In this case, Romania is expected to get more than thirty Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning joint strike fighters, sixteen amphibious assault vehicles, nearly one hundred heavy gun carriers and over fifty tanks. 

The U.S. government is providing $60 million in FMF grant funding for the cost of this loan, which will help accelerate Romania’s defence modernization. The U.S. says Romania is a leader in NATO, which has been working with Allies to advance Black Sea security and providing critical assistance to Ukraine, including the transfer of a Patriot strategic air defence system and training Ukrainian F-16 pilots.