Bulgarians Join Balkan Protest Against Soaring Food Prices
Bulgaria has joined Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro in organizing protests against rising food prices
The Bulgarian defence ministry informed on Friday that it has launched a public tender for the supply of ten engines for MiG-29 fighter jets.
The engines can be either new or repaired ones and are needed to extend the operational capacity of five fighter jets, daily Sega informs.
The ministry notes that less engines might be purchased if there is not enough funding for all ten of them. The supplier offering the most favourable economic conditions will be selected.
The initial expectations projected that between BGN 50 and BGN 60 M will be paid for the engines, but the documentation reveals that the maximum amount to be spent has been capped at BGN 30 M.
One of the requirements towards the participants is to be able to supply the engines within a year after the launch of the tender and to guarantee that the engines will be fit for use for at least six years.
Last year, Bulgaria concluded an intergovernmental agreement with Poland on the repair of six MiG-29 engines for nearly BGN 12 M.
Two of the engines were fitted by specialists at the Graf Ignatievo air base. At the beginning of the year, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev announced that the Bulgarian air force can rely on seven operational fighter jets.
When the idea for the purchase of new engines was brought up in the beginning of the year, Nenchev noted that Bulgaria will go for Russian-made ones, but these will not be supplied by Russia.
Offers are expected to come from member states of the EU and NATO which have such spare parts in stock.
Recently, the government approved the acquisition of sixteen new or repaired military aircraft of a new type.
Even if the tender on the acquisition of the new fighter jets is launched by the end of the year, these will come into service in 2020.
Until then, the country's air space will be policed by the MiG-29s which is the reason for the extension of their flying capacity.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense has reported a significant rise in the number of individuals interested in joining the military
A joint contingent of border security officers from Bulgaria, Austria, Romania, and Hungary will officially begin operations today
Bulgaria has officially received its first F-16 Block 70 fighter jet at a ceremony held at Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina
Lockheed Martin is officially handing over the first of eight F-16 fighter jets to the Bulgarian Air Force
Bulgarian Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov will travel to the United States for a three-day visit starting January 29
The Bulgarian Naval Forces have been maintaining a heightened state of readiness for mine countermeasures to ensure safe navigation in the country's maritime territory
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