USA approves sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Bulgaria

The United States government has announced that it has approved the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Bulgaria to "strengthen the security" of this NATO member state amid the war in Ukraine. This was reported late this evening, April 4, by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The State Department has informed the US Congress of its intention to sell Bulgaria these fighter jets as well as ammunition for the sum of 1.67 billion dollars.

The purchase of eight new F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the US is one of the priority projects for the modernisation of the Bulgarian armed forces.

The project is to be implemented in two stages: the first is to acquire 8 aircraft, and the second to acquire 8 more aircraft.

At the beginning of 2019, four contracts were signed between the governments of Bulgaria and the United States for the purchase of eight F-16 Block 70 aircraft and related equipment, services and armament, following a proposal by the Council of Ministers and a decision by the National Assembly to implement the first stage.

The Ministry of Defence continues preparations for the implementation of the second stage of the project.