site.btaAmendment No. 2 to F-16 Block 70 Aircraft Agreement with US Ratified on Second Reading

Bulgaria's Parliament on Tuesday passed conclusively a Government-proposed Act to Ratify Amendment No. 2 to Letter of Agreement (LOA) BU-D-SAB (F-16 Block 70 aircraft and associated support).

Amendment No. 2 to the international agreement updates the schedule for delivery of the aircraft, which is planned to start at the end of the first quarter of 2025 and to be completed until the end of 2025.

The first two jets were to be delivered in the middle of 2023 and the last two in the first quarter of 2024, but COVID-19 delayed the implementation of the project.

The purpose of the amendment is to optimize the deliveries on the part of the US and does not reduce or limit the requirements for the capabilities of the F-16 Block 70 weapons system as initially set by Bulgaria.  It does not change the price was set out in the agreement.

In its report on the bill, the parliamentary Defence Committee said that the LOA has to be amended because of an adjustment of the timeframe for procuring the requisite components and/or products and for endorsing the related explanatory notes as a result of contracts awarded by the US Air Force to the relevant suppliers.

Since the amendment, just as the basic LOA, contains Controlled Unclassified Information which is not supposed to be made public, it may not be promulgated in the State Gazette, the parliamentary Defence Committee said in its report on the bill.