April 5 (SeeNews) - The US State Department has approved the potential sale to Bulgaria of eight F-16 fighter aircraft and related equipment for an estimated price of up to $ 1.673 billion (1.52 billion euro), the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DFCA) said.
The DFCA, which manages the Pentagon's arms contracts, notified the US Congress of the proposed sale, the agency said in a statement on Monday.
Following a request from the Bulgarian government, the US would provide four F-16 C Block 70 aircraft, four F-16 D Block 70 aircraft and eleven F100-GE-129D engines, in addition to radars, navigation and positioning systems, tactical radio systems as well as nineteen advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and other related weapons and equipment.
"The proposed sale will improve Bulgaria’s capability to meet current and future threats by enabling the Bulgarian Air Force to deploy modern fighter aircraft routinely in the Black Sea region," the agency noted.
The main contractor will be Lockheed Martin. To implement the proposed sale, fewer than 20 U.S. contractor representatives will be sent to Bulgaria for 36 months to support the required secure storage of critically-controlled assets and provide on-site contractor logistics support.
The move is seen to support a NATO ally, providing an interoperable platform and enabling Bulgaria's Air Force to operate more frequently alongside other F-16s operators in the region, as the military conflict in Ukraine shows little sign of abating.
"The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region," the DFCA said.
Bulgarian Air Force currently uses Russian-made and serviced MiG-29 fighter jets. In 2019, Bulgaria paid in full $1.2 billion for the purchase of eight F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the U.S. The deal was for six single-seat F-16 jets and two two-seat aircraft to be used for training, and also involved the supply of weaponry for the aircraft.
The proposed sale cannot be represented as backfilling, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during a press conference on Monday, declining to comment on whether providing the F-16s would allow Bulgaria to dispatch its MiG-29s as military aid to Ukraine.
($ = 0.9109 euro)