September 25 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian government has approved the purchase of US-made Stryker armoured vehicles to improve the country's ground forces and align them with NATO standards.
The government did not provide further information on the number of vehicles to be purchased and the total value of the contract in a press statement issued last week.
The investment project foresees an expenditure of 1.37 billion US dollars (1.28 billion euro), Defence Minister Todor Tagarev said on Friday as cited by the defence ministry's press office. Bulgarian lawmakers need to approve the expenditure before a contract can be signed and then ratified by parliament, he added.
The contract will enter into force upon the payment of the first installment. It is expected that first delivery will take place within two years of the first payment, with the the contract to be fulfilled within three years, Tagarev was quoted as saying.
In early September, the U.S. State Department approved the potential sale of 183 armoured fighting vehicles of the Stryker family and related equipment to Bulgaria, at a total cost of 1.5 billion US dollars. The machines are to be provided by US military vehicle manufacturer General Dynamics Land Systems.
($ = 0.9393 euro)