Bulgaria Pushes Forward With US Jet Purchase

The Bulgarian government has asked parliament for a mandate to negotiate with the United States on buying new fighter jets, Defence Minister Krasimir Karakachanov said on Wednesday after ministers met in Sofia. 

It means that Bulgaria plans to move ahead with the purchase of Lockheed Martin's F-16 Block 70 Viper jets to replace its aging fleet of Soviet-era Mig-29 planes.

The other two offers - for Swedish SAAB Gripen fighters and second-hand Italian Eurofighter Typhoons - are not longer being considered.

"We have an assurance from the White House that the price [for the jets] will be lowered," Karakachanov said on Wednesday, adding that the other option was to restart the bidding procedure and postpone signing a deal for a year-and-a-half.

The decision follows a month of diplomatic pressure from Washington, and a controversial report of the multidisciplinary expert commission on the selection of new jets that had to consider three offers.

The report, published on January 20, listed the US and Sweden as the main contenders to sell Bulgaria fourth generation multi-purpose jet fighters for an estimated 750 million euros.

But while it described the Gripen jets as best fitting the technical and financial criteria set out by the political leadership, it recommended the F-16s instead.

Karkachanov immediately endorsed the US jets. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, FMV, said on December 22 that it had learned of the Bulgarian decision "with great disappointment and concern".

An FMV official, Joakim Wallin, underlined that the criteria set out by the Bulgarian Defence Ministry in the tender procedure gave the Gripen an advantage over the F-16s.

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