Bulgaria has chosen the Italian Alenia Aeronautica company for the purchase of eight Tactical Transport Aircrafts, Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov confirmed Wednesday.

The purchase is to be contracted by the end of April, Svinarov also said.

The army is to be revived with eight C-27J Spartan Tactical Transport Aircrafts, which are developed by Lockheed Martin Alenia Tactical Transport Systems (LMATTS), the Italian Corriere della Serra daily wrote on Tuesday.

One C-27J aircraft costs about USD 30 M, the newspaper also wrote.

The C-27J Spartan has the same logistical and maintenance characteristics of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules Medium Tactical Airlifter, and also shares commonality of the cargo capacity.

The primary roles of the C-27J are cargo transport, troop transport and material and paratroop air drop. Other missions include maritime patrol, tactical operations, medical evacuation, ground refuelling, fire-fighting and aerial spraying.

The purchase comes shortly after the country ordered 18 helicopters from a French company, Eurocopter, in February. The Balkan country worked out a purchasing program after it became a NATO member in April 2004, in a bid to modernize its armed forces with more advanced US and European equipment.

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