Boeing, Gripen, Lockheed vie for Bulgarian fighter jet deal

Published: May 31, 2006
Source: news.dnevnik.bg



Bulgaria's defence ministry has sent out requests for price, availability and delivery time information to Boeing, Gripen and Lockheed Martin, singling out the Swedish and the two U.S. corporations as the most likely suppliers of 20 new fighter jets.

The fighter jet renewal project, estimated at over $1 bln, was supposed to kick off in 2006 but was postponed for 2007-2008 due to financial considerations.

Defence ministry sources said the deferral is related to the October expiration of Bulgaria's agreement with the IMF which restricts the use of state-guaranteed loans.

Boeing is the only one of the 3 suppliers to respond so far. The company has proposed 3 options for the supply of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to the Bulgarian armed forces: 16 new Super Hornets and 12 used F-15s; 12 used F-18s and as many F-5s; and 12 used jets.
Gripen and Lockheed Martin are preparing their response to the information request sent out by the Bulgarian defence ministry.

They offers will feature only new jets.
Bulgaria is focusing on the purchase of new fighters in the aftermath of the problems it is having with upgrading its fleet of Soviet-made MiG-29s.

On Monday, defence minister Veselin Bliznakov said Russia's RSK MiG has extended the air worthiness of 2 MiG-29s until the end of 2006. The repair and modernisation of the other MiGs continues on schedule, said the official.(Dnevnik)
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