November 22 (SeeNews) - The production of the F16 Block 70 fighter jets ordered by Bulgaria is already underway, US aerospace and defence company Lockheed Martin said.
The first F16 Block 70 aircraft, to be delivered to Bahrain, has been assembled and inspected at the production on base in Greenville, North Carolina, and production is underway for F16 fighters for Slovakia and Bulgaria, the company said on Monday.
In early November, the Bulgarian parliament endorsed a cabinet decision to purchase a second batch of eight F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft from the U.S. for a total of $1.296 billion (1.27 billion euro). The first eight jets have already been paid for.
Bulgaria expects delivery of those fighter jets in early 2025, with the second batch of F-16s likely to arrive in 2029, caretaker defence minister Dimitar Stoyanov has said, as quoted by local media.
NATO member Bulgaria has an ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG-29 fighter aircraft, which are due to be grounded in 2023.
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