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Bulgaria is considering the purchase of F-16s
from Portugal or Eurofighter Typhoons from Italy. Here, Royal Netherlands Air
Force F- 16 military fighter jets, top, and German Eurofighter Typhoon fighter
jets participate in an exercise in Lithuanian airspace. (Mindaugas Kulbis/AP)
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WARSAW, Poland — Bulgarian Defence Minister Krasimir
Karakachanov has promised to relaunch a tender to acquire eight fighter jets.
The country will request new offers from Portugal, which offered secondhand
F-16s, and from Italy, which offered Eurofighter Typhoons.
This means the Bulgarian government will not proceed to
purchase Sweden’s Saab JAS 39 Gripen aircraft despite previous announcements by
the Defence Ministry.
In early October, a special committee of the Bulgarian
parliament released a report calling on the Cabinet to relaunch the fighter
tender despite the recommendation of a ministerial expert group that ranked the
Gripen as the top choice.
“The three bids that have been submitted to date should
allow all participants to offer not only secondhand aircraft, but also new
ones,” Karakachanov told local broadcaster Bulgarian National Television in an
interview. “I personally believe that if Bulgaria is to buy such aircraft, they
should be new.”
The defense minister said he plans to file a new tender
proposal to the country’s Council of Ministers by early November.
Bulgaria is aiming to replace its Air Force’s
Soviet-designed Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets with Western-made aircraft. The
planned deal is estimated to be worth about 1.5 billion lev (U.S. $899.8
million).
Original post: defensenews.com
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