Deals to watch: Romania's 216-tank competition pits the K2 against Leopard and KF51 for up to EUR 6.5 billion

Romania plans to buy 216 main battle tanks plus 76 derivative vehicles with a budget of up to EUR 6.488 billion (about KRW 10 trillion), with Hyundai Rotem's K2 competing against the Leopard 2 and Rheinmetall's KF51 Panther. Bidding is to open once Bucharest completes a localization analysis, and Hyundai Rotem's K2 gained NATO AQAP-2110 quality certification in July 2026 to strengthen its case. Romania already operates Korean K9 howitzers and is buying K239 Chunmoo launchers. Next milestone: tender launch, date unknown.