U.S. group Textron has concluded an agreement with Romanian defense manufacturer Aerostar to jointly produce armored vehicles, the group said on April 9.

"Together with Aerostar, we look forward to the opportunity to work with the Romanian land forces to modernize their armored vehicles, while bringing jobs to Romania," Textron Marine and Land Systems vice-president Mark Savarese said.

The armored carriers will allow us to "better address the requirements of the Romanian forces serving side-by-side with U.S. troops as coalition partners," he added.

Aerostar CEO Grigore Filip said the agreement would help combine local "manufacturing capabilities and facilities" with Textron "expertise" to create "combat-proven armored vehicles that are delivered on time and within budget."

According to local media, Romania is planning to buy around 800 armored vehicles but has so far postponed a decision due to lack of funds.

The deal comes two weeks after Romania announced its decision to purchase 24 F-16 aircraft currently used by the U.S. Air Force, drawing criticism from Swedish group Saab and European consortium Eurofighter.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010