Outgoing Cabinet Approves Project to Acquire Coastal Anti-Ship Missile System from the United States

The government has approved a project to acquire a coastal anti-ship missile system from the United States, as well as an agreement with Italy for the joint construction of facilities to host NATO’s multinational battle group. This was announced by the outgoing Minister of Defence, Atanas Zapryanov, following a meeting of the Council of Ministers on January 21.

The minister explained that the investment project includes two contracts: one for the delivery of the missile system, worth 205 million dollars, and a second for the delivery of a command and control system, valued at just over 3 million dollars. Following today’s decision, the project will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval, after which the Ministry of Defence will proceed to sign the contracts.

The contracts will be concluded under a “government-to-government” arrangement. The main payments are scheduled for the period 2029–2030, and the implementation deadline is set for 2030, the outgoing defence minister added.

With this decision, another modernisation project for the Bulgarian Armed Forces is being launched. It is separate from the ESAFE project and will be implemented with national funding. It forms part of the investment programme for the rearmament of the armed forces and the Programme for the Development of the Defence Capabilities of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria 2032 (Programme 2032). Zapryanov recalled that last week the project for the acquisition of mine countermeasure vessels from Belgium and the Netherlands was also formally launched.

The Council of Ministers also approved an agreement between the governments of Bulgaria and Italy, signed shortly before Christmas with the Italian Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto. Under the agreement, the two countries commit to the joint construction of facilities to host NATO’s multinational battle group, which is currently deployed in the area of the Novo Selo training range.

The new facility will be built in the area of Kabyle in two stages: initially for the temporary deployment of the battle group, and subsequently for its permanent stationing. Construction of the temporary infrastructure will begin jointly with the Italian side.

The agreement provides a legal framework allowing the Italian Armed Forces and the Italian Ministry of Defence to make investments on Bulgarian territory, in compliance with Bulgarian legislation and following ratification by the National Assembly. Zapryanov said the arrangement mirrors existing agreements between Bulgaria and the United States for joint facilities such as Novo Selo and the Graf Ignatievo air base.

The minister stressed that this model makes it possible to achieve better results with more limited financial resources, through an optimal distribution of responsibilities between the host nation and the framework nation of NATO’s multinational battle group.