Bulgaria has sent out RFPs for a new fighter...

[jcf]

Last Update: 8:44 AM ET Jun 1, 2006

STOCKHOLM (MarketWatch) -- The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense Thursday confirmed it has sent out requests for information about new fighter aircraft for its airforce to Boeing Co. (BA), Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), Dassault Aviation SA(5730.FR), Saab AB (SAAB-B.SK) and the consortium of European companies developing the Eurofighter.

STOCKHOLM (MarketWatch) -- The Bulgarian Ministry of Defense Thursday confirmed it has sent out requests for information about new fighter aircraft for its airforce to Boeing (BA), Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), Dassault (5730.FR), Saab AB (SAAB-B.SK) and the consortium of European companies developing the Eurofighter.
A ministry spokeswoman said only Boeing, which manufactures the requested F18, has responded so far, but that it expects information from the other aircraft manufacturers within the next two to three months.
The other aircraft included in the request are Lockheed Martin's F16, Saab's JAS-39 Gripen, Dassault's Rafale and the Eurofighter, jointly developed by BAE Systems PLC (BA.LN), Alenia S.P.A (ALE.YY), European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. (5730.FR) and Martin Baker Aircraft Co.
The spokeswoman said the tender for the aircraft will be issued in about a year's time, after it has evaluated the information given by the companies.
Gripen spokesman Owe Wagermark confirmed the company has received the request and said it expects to send in its proposal within a month's time.
-Contact: 201-938-5400  
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So what dark horses could be unofficially added to the contest?
Mig? Sukhoi? Chengdu? Hindustan Aeronautics? :dum:

Cheers, Jon

[GTX]

My money is on either a Gripen or F-16 win.

Regards,

Greg

[Nick]

Back in 2004, when Bulgaria joined NATO, their Chiefs of Defence Staff visited NAS Patuxent River and looked at F-18E/F Super Hornets and S-3 Vikings.

http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/tester/9_16...ws/28659-1.html

They face Russia and the Ukraine across the Black Sea and border Greece to the south, all countries with hints of instability and border problems. The Bulgarian Air Force has had serious issues with their Mig-29s in recent years and are probably hoping for more modern and effective aircraft, effectively MiG are out of the running, but Sukhoi might have an outside chance.

I think the final line-up will include;

F-15 (surprise outsider?)
F-16
F-18
Gripen
Eurofighter
Su-27
Su-30
HAL HJT-36
HAL Tejas (LCA)
Iran Aircraft Industry Tazarve trainer and/or the Azarakhsh fighter, both based on the F-5 frames. A real outsider with little chance.

Some offers will include secondhand aircraft and trainers. A major issue will be the advanced technology being released and high costs of purchase and maintenance.

USN might want to hand over some old F-18C/D models and there must be some ex-USAF F-16s just waiting for a rebuild and resale.
BAe could offer a mix of Hawk trainers and rebuilt Tornado's but.....

Nick B)  

[P1127]

They will want soemthing Western and NATO compatible - I suspect economics will force it to F-16 and Gripen (Twin engined types ruled out)

[Son of Damian]

A F-16 Block 52/60 with a spine and CFTs in one of those cool camos that there Mig-21s wear would be pretty kick donkey!!! And the same goes for the Hornet.







My guess though is that they will choose the Hornet mainly because it has better radar than the F-16, and the safety of two engines. Not to mention both Greece and Turkey fly F-16s and should they go to war (god forbid; last week a Greek F-16 scrambled to intercept a Turkish F-16 that had violated Greek airspace and they ended up colliding, the Greek pilot being killed) it would be F-16 vs F-16. And if Bulgaria bought F-16s and used them to guard it's airspace during such a conflict the fog of war might make a very sticky situation.  

Bulgarian Vikings would be pretty cool as well. Hmmm.... where is Sentinel Chicken when you need him!  

[GTX]

the safety of two engines

Not really much of an issue anymore given modern engine reliability.

Regards,

Greg

[Scooterman]

Viper, Viper, Viper........

Scooterman
(resident F-16 lover, right after the Skyhawk)

[upnorth]

I suspect we'll see another Gripen customer come out of this and likely a lease deal rather than outright purchase, similar to what the Czechs have going with their Gripen fleet.

The comment made about the potential instabilities of Russia and Ukraine has me thinking that anything Russian built or from points East that can be blockaded by the mass of instability that is the Middle East is right out of the running.

While the Viper is a distinct possibility, its also a known quantity with very few if any surprises left up its sleeve for a potential adversary to find out about the hard way. If you are possibly going nose to nose with a Sukhoi using nation over the Black Sea, you want something new and modern enough that your adversary doesn't know all of what you can do and doesn't have such a clear idea of your weak points.

I think it would be cool to see Bulgaria get on board for that beefed up Gripen that was posted in Danish markings recently.

Actually, what I'd most like to see is the Rafale getting its first foreign customer. Of the fourth generation fighters its the one that is least publicised and probably the most unknown quantity among them. We have only the French to show us what it can do and I'm sure their keeping a few things about it to themselves.

The first time I saw a Gripen at an airshow it was a Swedish one, an impressive display it was, but absolutely sedate compared to what the Czech pilots do to show it off.

Like I say, for Bulgaria, I suspect Gripen lease deal but hope for Rafale.

[P1127]

My guess though is that they will choose the Hornet mainly because it has better radar than the F-16, and the safety of two engines.

Is the legacy Hornet still in production?  

[nev]

Gripen has to be far & away the front-runner.  It offers the best bang for your (bulgarian) buck and its European.  F-16 comes second, depends on what variant they're prepared to offer at a Gripen-esque price.

Rafale is too expensive, unless the French do a massive offset deal with Bulgaria.

[B777LR]

my vote is on the gripen. Hungaria and the czech republic already use it.  

[lancer]

Agreed! Gripen followed by F16 and then 18. Personally I'd hope that the Bulgarians do go with the Gripen instead of some old second hand cast offs. Sorry but that is exactly what the F16 & 18 will be. Rafale and Typhoon will be too expensive for them, but there might be some kind of deal done, who knows?

[Spey_Phantom]

in AFM last month i read that there were 3 likely options

1. buy 14 F-18E/F's

2. buy 10 or 12 F-18E/F's and 12 F-5E/F

3. buy 14 secondhand F-18A/B/C/D and 10 to 12 F-5E/F.

so anyway, it appears the the bugs and superbugs are the likely favorites in the contest  B)
the F-5's were concidered as advanced trainer to smoothen the transition from the fish to the bug  ^_^  

[upnorth]

As the Hornet goes, I think the best Bulgaria could reasonably do is some second hand C/D models. The A/B is too old and the E/F too expensive.

As for the F-5, they'd be better to try to supplement the bugs with second hand Vipers. The F-5 is far too old and obsolete to effectively defend any strategically important place.

I'd say Gripen and possibly one of the newer variants of BAE Hawk as supplemental.

[Family Guy]

In my opinion the closest candidate will sadly be the SuperBug just because of three simple reasons:

1)They get it cheap via FMS-Deal

2)The Turks don't use 'em

3)The bug has enough range for this big country

As  i already sad its very sad cause in my opinion they should stick with gripen because of the good experiences their neighbours had, the fantastic offset and the growing potenitial for the future. The best solution would be the Rafale but i think they can't pay such a monster, nut it would be exactly what they need good range, potential, NATO compatible, modern ecm's, european and high tech offset

The F-16 is in Bulgaria some kind off outsider as their governmaent had announced that they not want to be one of the last users off a bird which won't be in service in the producing country when they get their birds and also they see no potential anymore in the f-16 as they say it has outgrown and to use the argument "oh poland has bought them" is not really ok because of the fact Poland wanted to have Gripen but got fecking big preasure from the US...In my opinion some European thing would be best...no 3rd generation bird...