Delivery of new F-16 aircraft from the US will be delayed

The second delivery of eight F-16 fighter jets for the Bulgarian Air Force will be delayed by a year, caretaker Minister of Defense, Atanas Zapryanov, said. "They cannot achieve production capacity. Lockheed Martin should produce 4 aircraft per month, but now they produce 3. In fact, we will not be able to complete the order by 2027," Zapryanov said.

The machines were expected to arrive near Plovdiv by the end of 2027. The contract was concluded in 2022 for nearly 2.5 billion euros. The money is paid in instalments, but this year, due to the lack of a regular state budget, a postponement of part of the instalment will be requested. Atanas Zapryanov said that the delayed delivery will be used as a reason in the negotiations.

The caretaker minister pointed out that he would like the parliament to authorize the government to conclude the loan agreement under the European military investment mechanism SAFE in the second budget extension. The EC has approved for financing 9 Bulgarian projects worth 3.2 billion euros.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov