Written by The Sofia Globe staff on June
28, 2017 in Bulgaria - Comments
Off on Saab: Bulgarian former defence minister’s claims about Gripen
ceasing production and being in scant demand are misleading and factually wrong
Claims by Bulgarian former defence minister Boiko Noev in
a June 28 television interview, including that there was scant demand for
Gripens and that the fighter jet was going out of production, were misleading
and factually incorrect, the Saab company said in a statement.
Noev, who was defence minister in 1994/95 and again in
1999/2001, said in a widely-reported interview with television station bTV that
Gripens were ceasing to be produced, and there were only 250, indicating a lack
of interest among other countries in acquiring them.
His comments came on the day that amid a complex
political row, GERB, the majority partner in government, got sufficient support
in Parliament for the establishment of an ad hoc committee to examine
the jet fighter acquisition process so far.
The GERB move is directed in part against President
Roumen Radev, former commander of the Air Force, with party parliamentary
leader Tsvetan Tsvetanov alleging that Radev had meddled in the process
that saw Gripen ranked as the best option for the Bulgarian Air Force.
Daniel Boestad, vice-president for Gripen in Central and
Eastern Europe, said that the Saab Gripen C/D is the most modern fighter
aircraft in operational service today.
“It is not true that the production of the Gripen C/D
will cease. Saab has the production capacity to meet customer demands for both
the Gripen C and E.”
Saab has in place a well-developed and well-funded Gripen
production programme, the statement said.
“Saab is currently building new Gripen E aircraft for the
air forces of Sweden and Brazil, and will build new Gripen C/D aircraft for the
many countries that are actively considering the aircraft.
“Gripen C/D and E versions are currently being marketed
to, and being considered by a number of European, Asian, Latin American and
African countries. Indeed, there has never been so much interest in Gripen,”
Saab said.
One reason why so many countries are interested in the
Gripen is that many air forces are now in the process of replacing their fleets
of 30-40 year-old aircraft, be they MiG 21s, MiG29s, or F-16s.
In Bulgaria, Gripen C/D was placed first by the
independent expert committee that considered three proposals for aircraft, the
statement said.
“Negotiations between Sweden and Bulgaria are expected to
open in the near future. Saab will build new Gripen C/D aircraft for Bulgaria,
and will deliver the first aircraft within 18 months of contract signature.”
Gripen is fully Nato-interoperable and is in operational
service with Bulgaria’s Nato allies, the Czech Republic and Hungary, the
statement said.
“Indeed, Czech and Hungarian Gripen C/Ds have fulfilled
numerous Nato air policing roles to the Baltic States and Iceland. And earlier
this month, Czech Air Force Gripen C/Ds participated with tremendous success in
the prestigious Nato Tiger combat training exercise in France.”
The delivery of Gripen C/Ds to both the Czech Republic
and Hungary were under government-to-government long-term lease and
lease-to-buy contracts, Boestad said.
Source: sofiaglob.com
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Gripen C/D: Details
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