Bulgaria opts for Swedish Gripen combat jets

Reuters ^ | Apr 26, 2017

[sukhoi-30mki]

SOFIA, April 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria has decided to start talks with Sweden to acquire eight new Gripen combat jets made by SAAB, interim deputy prime minister Stefan Yanev said on Wednesday, as the Balkan country seeks to replace its ageing Soviet-designed MiG-29s.

The Balkan country has picked the Swedish offer in preference to an offer from Portugal of secondhand U.S. F-16s equipped with U.S. weaponry and an offer from Italy of secondhand Eurofighter Typhoon fighters.

A deal is estimated to be worth about 1.5 billion levs ($836 million).

A special commission for the negotiations is expected to be set up within a week, Yanev said. The talks with Sweden will be held by Bulgaria's next government, which is expected to take office next week.

"Sweden's offer is ranked first, followed by Portugal and Italy," interim Defence Minister Yanev said. "It is normal that talks start with the first-ranked country."

[sukhoi-30mki]

[pfony1]

Does Bulgaria know that those Swedish jets will simply “refuse to engage” in a combat situation/

[CondorFlight]

It’s a great plane; but at nearly $100 million each (price likely includes some maintenance, training, etc.)

Eight planes?

Maybe the article is wrong.

But as Stalin said, quantity has a quality all it own.

Better old Israeli Kfirs (at $20 million apiece) with modern electronics. Eight would cost only $160 million. Eight hundred million would get you forty planes (if that many still exist).

[RitchieAprile]

the Kfirs, like most second or third hand planes,
have probably little remaining airframe time
left and need increasingly more maintenance and spares to keep flying. If these are from a third world seller, I doublt they would be in the greatest condition.

[LSUfan]

My understanding is that the Gripen suffers from a severe lack of combat radius and endurance.

It may not be a big consideration for the mission in Bulgaria.