Bulgarian Defence Minister: F-16s out of the
race in jet fighter acquisition project
Written by The Sofia Globe staff on June 23,
2017 in Bulgaria - Comments Off on Bulgarian Defence Minister: F-16s out of the
race in jet fighter acquisition project
Speaking in the National Assembly building on June 23,
Bulgarian Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov confirmed that the country
would not buy used F-16s from Portugal, while negotiations with Sweden about
Gripens and Italy about Eurofighters would go ahead.
Karakachanov told journalists that the reason that
Bulgaria would not proceed with the bid from Portugal to supply US-made F-16s
was that the payment installments in the first years were higher than expected.
Bulgaria plans to acquire eight multi-role fighter jets,
with the current budget for the purchase set at a 1.5 billion leva. The idea is
to agree on deferred payments over at least eight years.
In 2016, Bulgaria – a Nato member since 2004 but which
has not achieved finality of getting new fighter jets to bring it up to
alliance standards – issued a formal request for proposals.
Bids were submitted regarding the Gripens, Eurofighters
and F-16s. A military expert committee ranked the Gripens the highest, in a
report examined by the January/May 2017 caretaker cabinet.
Karakachanov told reporters that in assessing the bids,
the main requirement was deferred payments over a longer period, and the Portuguese
bid had not satisfied this requirement.
“We have a previous government decision, and if we break
it, we will be accused of taking such action for one or other reason,” he said.
Karakachanov said that the negotiations would begin after
a vote in Parliament and the granting of a mandate for the Defence Minister to
start negotiations.
He confirmed that in his report to the Cabinet, he
proposed proceeding not only with the acquisition of fighter jets for the
Bulgarian Air Force and patrol vessels for the Navy, but also with the
acquisition of armoured vehicles for the infantry. This proposal had been made
after “long talks” with the Finance Ministry.
The time frames were reworked to stretch payments out over
a longer period, of more than 10 years, to ease the burden on the budget.
“About the fighters, the idea is once the contract is
finalised, to pay the first installment and to decide the period when the first
will be delivered. I think it is possible for the first to be delivered in the
second or third year, and so forth over time,” he said.
Source: sofiaglobe.com
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