This is the first time that armoured vehicles will be manufactured to NATO standards in Bulgaria, after an initial investment of 20 million levs ($10.9 million/10.2 million euro), the company said in a statement earlier this week. The output of the plant will span the entire product range of the company, including its new Rila 8x8 armoured vehicle for the land forces.
The plant will be built in the industrial zone of the coastal city of Burgas. It will be IAG's largest production base worldwide spanning 150,000 sq m. The manufacturing facility will be equipped with rooftop solar arrays and will create more than 300 jobs. The project has been under development since spring 2022 when Florida-based IAG bought a land plot for the construction of the plant in Burgas Industrial Zone.
IAG is also working with Bulgarian partner companies on the development of a series of interference-protected drones for rescue, reconnaissance and emergency teams, the company added. The new products will also be manufactured in Bulgaria. Armoured platforms - carriers of light artillery systems - are in the process of being engineered, while military evacuation cranes and light patrol cars already form part of IAG's serial product range.
"We are glad to have the opportunity to expand our international family with production in Bulgaria, where we invest not only in innovations in defence, but also in specialists that our country needs. With the start of construction, we will mark a key moment in the development of this important project, which will have such a positive impact on Bulgarian industrial production," IAG owner and CEO Anton Stefov said.
IAG, which employs over 1,000 staff, has production facilities in the USA, UAE and Turkey, with affiliates in Bulgaria, the UK, Iraq and Pakistan. It supplies armoured vehicles to NATO, the UN, as well as US private spacecraft manufacturer and launcher SpaceX. In 2021, IAG agreed with Netherlands-based research laboratory TNO to conduct some of the NATO certification testing of armoured vehicles in Bulgaria, at the artillery practice range near Stara Zagora.
Jul 5, 2024
