Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev is heading to the US for a five-day trip to meet members of key defence institutions and take stock of the progress on the many deals Bulgaria has signed with US companies with a view of modernising its army, as well as the forthcoming deal on new 3D radars, Tagarev announced on Tuesday.
The defence minister will meet with key institutions – the US Department of Defence, the State Department, the National Security Council, the Congress, and the Defence and Security Cooperation Agency.
Tagarev will also visit the Lockheed Martin plants in South Carolina. He will be informed on the production process of the F-16 Block 70 aircraft that Bulgaria bought for its air force, the Bulgarian Defence Ministry reports.
Tagarev also plans to participate in a discussion on security issues in the Black Sea, the future of the Western Balkans and NATO’s Eastern Flank at the National Defence University in Washington.
Over the past three years, Bulgaria has multiplied its military investments, the backbone of which is still supported by large quantities of Soviet weaponry left over from the Cold War era.
Bulgaria plans to spend $10 billion in military investments until 2032. These costs will cover the three major projects. The largest is the contract with Lockheed Martin for delivering 16 F-16 fighters at a cost of nearly $2.4 billion, including armament.
At the start of December, the Bulgarian parliament approved the deal to purchase nearly 200 Stryker combat vehicles from General Dynamics for the infantry at $1.3 billion.
The latest major military deal is to equip the army with advanced 3D radars, and the expectation is that this contract will be signed very soon.
Five leading global companies submitted bids for the project – the American Lockheed Martin, Leonardo (Italy), Elta (Israel), Indra (Spain), and Thales (France).
The project is worth at least $230 million, and the favourite is US company Lockheed Martin, which will supply the new fighters for the Bulgarian army.
The other upcoming military deal announced by Denkov is for the purchase of missile complexes for the modernisation of the Bulgarian Coast Guard against the backdrop of Russian aggression in Ukraine and new threats in the Black Sea.
The Bulgarian delegation also includes the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov. He will hold a meeting with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces General Charles Brown Jr.
(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)
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Source: euractiv.com
