site.btaBulgarian Army Starts Replacing Air Defence Systems

The process of replacing the air defence systems of the Bulgarian Army has started, the press centre of the Ministry of Defence said Tuesday. 

On October 7, an additional agreement to the contract of the Ministry of Defence of the Federal Republic of Germany with the manufacturer of IRIS-T SLM systems, Diehl Defence, was signed regarding the supply of an air defence complex for the Bulgarian Air Force.

The ministry explained that the document was drawn up in continuation of the Programme Agreement between the Ministry of Defence of Germany and the Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria on the joint purchase of the systems under the Memorandum of Understanding on the joint purchase of ground-based air defence systems within the framework of the European Sky Shield initiative.

The Programme Agreement was signed by the Ministers of Defence of Bulgaria and Germany on September 6 in implementation of the Investment Expenditure Project for the acquisition of IRIS-T air defence missile systems adopted by the National Assembly. This marks the beginning of the replacement of the Bulgarian Army's air defence systems.

The draft investment expenditure for the acquisition of IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile complexes was adopted by the National Assembly on August 8.