The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense is speeding up the construction of the secret facilities for the new F-16 fighter jets.
Since April, the delay has been made up by “redirection facilities”. This is clear from the decisions of one of the last meetings of the government. Since April, the delay has been made up by “redirection facilities”, BNR said.
To make up for the “massive delay in the construction of the infrastructure”, Acting Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov refers to the exceptions under the PPA. Therefore, companies recommended by DANS will work on the projects . Due to the priority of the project, an option was chosen that shortens the procedure of the companies. But Zapryanov ensures that “higher requirements are set for the selection criteria”. “a limited number of potential contractors” the principles of equality will be respected.
The acting minister announced an assessment on the American side as well. He has found a serious risk that after the arrival of the planes, “regular flight operations will not be carried out due to the lack of the necessary infrastructure”. This could also make the maintenance more expensive, as storage operations are carried out every 30 days, and the number of them increases according to the time they are not flown. And because the contract does not provide money for the purchase of spare parts and consumables for additional measures for storage.
Due to the lack of space last year, Bulgaria has already paid tens of thousands of dollars to store the manufactured guided air missiles due to the lack of qualified infrastructure. The value of the four secret facilities at the airport “Graf Ignatievo” is slightly more than BGN 201 million including VAT. Construction is responsible for Bulgaria, recalls Minister Atanas Zapryanov.
The first two F-16 aircraft should finally arrive in Bulgaria in the first quarter of next year. The 8 fighters should be here by the end of the third quarter of 2025.
2024-11-03 06:15:00
#Bulgaria #accelerates #construction #secret #facilities #F16 #fighters #ᐉ #News
