Bulgaria choose the Gripen-plan – buy american

the News that Bulgaria now cancels the negotiations with the Swedish Defence materiel administration (FMV) to buy ten gripen aircraft of the type C/D came unexpectedly. Gripen C/D is the type that is currently used operationally by the Swedish air force. The plan is built to fit into the Nato defense system and can be equipped with the radarstyrda jaktroboten Meteor.

Sweden has through the FMV offered Bulgaria to buy Gripen-plan, which would be delivered fully armed, within 24 months.

instead choose to go ahead with the american F-16 option comes as a surprise to the Swedish defence materiel administration.

we have offered Bulgaria is a very cost-effective systems that are cheaper than those of its competitors and has a very good ability. It is with great disappointment and concern we now note that the Bulgarian department of defense unilaterally quit the negotiations, " says Joakim Wallin, FMV's director of export and international operations.

as late as 2017-rated a committee consisting of representatives of the various ministries within the government of bulgaria Gripenalternativet as the best.

– Bulgaria department of defense and the treasury department came to the conclusion that the Gripen would be the best platform. But now it looks like that Bulgaria may choose to take more account of security issues than pure business. But defence procurement is not subject to the same rules as other contracts, and then you can deviate from the price and quality, " says Joakim Wallin.

According to the Swedish defence materiel administration has fulfilled all the criteria, which Bulgaria is set to flygplansordern:

type in a Twittermeddelande that it welcomes the positive news and to the Bulgarian armed forces will receive a aeroplane that ”now ensures that the Bulgarian air force will fly the most advanced fourth-generation fighter that is found in the Nato arsenal”.