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© United States Embassy
The United States Embassy in Bulgaria has announced that the country’s Air Force intends to provide the Bulgarian Air Force with two decommissioned F-16s after receiving approval from the United States Congress.
At the request of the Bulgarian government, these two aircraft will be provided under the Emergency Defense Articles Program (EDA) of the US Department of Defense. To be used as training aids and general familiarization of the Bulgarian Air Force with the team.
The announcement, made tonight, is related to the visit of the Undersecretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Renee Clark Cooper, who today was the Bulgarian air bases at Graf Ignatievo and Bezmer, as well as the Novo Selo training ground.
Last year’s deal for eight F-16 Block 70 fighters was identified as an important step towards modernizing the Bulgarian armed forces and providing “large-scale resources for our joint security mission in the Black Sea region.” .
The embassy notes that in the past two years there have been more than 170 joint initiatives, deepening defense partnerships, providing training in the United States to more than 5,000 Bulgarian military personnel, and more than $ 50 million in US investments to upgrade Bulgarian military installations. .
© United States Embassy
Rene Clark Cooper was accompanied by Ambassador Hero Mustafa and Deputy Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov.
The US Department of Defense’s Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program deals with the transfer of equipment and weapons to foreign governments or international organizations, but with congressional approval for the fiscal year in which the transfer is made . The point is that it is usually a sale at a reduced price (between 5 and 50% of the value of a new product) or a donation, but it must also be valued and recorded in the financial statements of the ministry. It is unclear from the US embassy announcement whether delivery of the two planes will be possible in the new US fiscal year, which began on October 1.
The law stipulates that while this is used to modernize partner countries, the EDA must not adversely affect the US technology and industry base, nor reduce the US ability to sell new equipment or used to the intended recipient.
The costs of packing, transporting and, if necessary, re-equipping the EDA equipment / armament will be borne by the receiving State. In the case of a donation, the recipient must sign an agreement that limits the possibility of the donation being transferred to another (the so-called end user) and gives the United States “the right to be the first to receive the product of any sale “of the donation.
