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

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

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

You could be my wingman anytime!!  


I think all the finalist have their chance to win:

-The Gripen: cheap, known by the bounders countries, cheap, european, cheap... Did I say "cheap"??

-Super Hornet (or Hornet): with FMS, it could have a very good price/quality ratio... Morevover, an American option could be a very good deal for the ex-Warpac countries that want/are now in the NATO... Just like the F-16 for Poland...

-F-16: Well, idem... But it offers less payload and upgrade facilities than the new Super Hornet

-Rafale: probably a perfect solution for both Dassault and the Bulagrian Air Force: a excellent fighter (sadly still too much secret to have a good reputation, in my opinion) that offers the best ECM and weapon-system to exportation... We don't have to forget that the Rafale arrived in first position in technical and operationnal contests in both Korean and Singapor competitions...
Sadly, it is a little more expensive than the Super Hornet (due to the € price against the $)... But if Dassault really want a first export customer, they could do some efforts in order to down the price...
But like in Korea and Singapor, the main problem with the Rafale is that the political weight of France can't deal with the European (Typhoon) or American (F-16/18) weight...

-Typhoon: beeing the most expensive and the less multi-purpose plane in the competition, I see very little chance for it to win the contract. But for political reason, it could have its chances!

[Matt Wiser]

Best guess IMHO would be either F-16E/F or F/A-18E/F. Kuwait has already talked to Boeing about 12-20 E/F models to augment their existing C/D force (two squadrons). Shows you how much the Gulf States trust Iran (not much).  

[B777LR]

Rafale, Typhoon, JSF and Superhornet are dead starters in my mind. All are either too large, or too expensive. F16 can be bought cheap second hand, and are also quite cheap new. Sweden has to retire a lot of gripens, and either put them on sale, or scrap them. This will allow Bulgaria to buy modern fighters quite cheap. Gripen has the lowest operational costs of all the contesters. It has a good deal of stealth.  

[SimonR]

This is discussion about the features of the varous aircraft (weapon systems, LO features, etc.) is totally moot. The Bulgarian deal, just as in every major fighter acquisition program of recent years, will go to whomever offers the best offset deal. Nothing else matters, it's all about the money!