SOFIA (Reuters) - The Bulgarian government has approved a plan
to start talks with the United States on buying eight new F-16 fighter jets to
replace its ageing Soviet-made MiG-29s and improve compliance with NATO
standards, the defense minister said on Wednesday.
A deal for Lockheed Martin’s F-16V Block 70 would be worth
around 1.8 billion levs ($1.1 billion), Bulgaria’s biggest military procurement
since the fall of Communist rule some 30 years ago.
The
decision still requires parliament’s approval.
Other
bidders had included Sweden, with Saab’s Gripen jets, and Italy, with
second-hand Eurofighters.
Senior defense ministry and army officials say the F-16 is a
multi-role fighter plane that had been tested in battle and had a long
lifespan.
The
defense ministry has previously said that the United States does not need
additional licenses and agreements to supply the war plans with the necessary
weaponry and licenses, unlike the offers from Sweden and Italy.
“The
government is proposing to the parliament to allow it to start talks with the
United States to acquire new war planes,” Defense Minister Krasimir
Karakachanov told reporters.
The
center-right coalition government has a thin majority in parliament, which is
expected to vote on the move next week.
The plan has spurred heated political debates in the Black Sea
country with supporters hailing it as a strategic choice for Bulgaria, whose
NATO neighbors are also flying F-16s, while critics accused the government of
breaching the tender rules.
On
Tuesday, the White House said the United States was ready to work with the
government to tailor a deal that will fit Bulgaria’s budgetary and operational
requirements. Its bid at present exceeds the tender’s estimated limit,
officials said.
“We
believe that the F-16 Block 70 offers Bulgaria the best possible combination of
price, capability and interoperability with other NATO air forces,” U.S.
President Donald Trump’s administration said in a statement.
Bulgarian
President Rumen Radev, a former air force commander and frequent critic of
Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, is believed to favor the Swedish bid and has
criticized the process as flawed and “a triumph of lobbying”.
Critics
have questioned whether the United States can deliver the first two F-16 jets
within two years as required and pointed to a U.S. proposal for a one-off
payment upon contracting rather than offering a long-term payment scheme as
preferred in the tender.
Sweden has expressed its disappointment over the decision and
said its offer was well below the estimated budget, provided for deferred
payment and was ready to deliver on time.
The
question of which warplanes to buy has been vexing successive governments in
Bulgaria for more than a decade.
Borissov’s
government re-launched the tender in July, after a parliament commission ruled
that a previous process which favored the Gripen jets, should be reviewed.
($1
= 1.7057 leva)
Editing by Kevin
Liffey and Susan Fenton
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