Defense Minister Atanas Zapryanov discussed the upcoming delivery of F-16 aircraft and Stryker combat vehicles to the ground forces at a meeting with the American ambassador to our country, Kenneth Marten, on Friday. This was announced by the minister quoted by FOCUS.
"Another topic was that very recently, a week ago, the State Department announced Congressional authorization for the delivery of Javelin anti-tank missiles as well. (Javelin) and we coordinated our next steps on how to get the contract as quickly as possible so that the Ministry of Defense can present it to the government and the next parliament can ratify it," he specified.
Minister Zapryanov also commented on the readiness of the "Count Ignatievo" to meet the new military equipment. He recalled that upon signing the contract for the F-16, the Bulgarian government allocated BGN 300 million for the preparation of the infrastructure. "Unfortunately, this coincided with the Covid crisis. And the contracts that were awarded to build this infrastructure have been very delayed. Then political instability, interim governments. After the Covid crisis, we did not react quickly enough to restore work on these projects, and it was only under the interim government with Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov that the process really began to accelerate," Zapryanov admitted. He assured that measures are being taken to ensure that the base will be ready on time. F-16s and Stryker fighters are expected to begin arriving in the middle of next year. "The good news is that the runway and taxiways were already accepted by act 16," the minister also told Bulgaria ON AIR.
Zapryanov also commented on the plane incident from the middle of the month, in which two Bulgarian pilots died. "I, as a minister, guarantee that once the black box is read, once the analyzes and reports of the appointed expert committee are done, we will provide the full information to the public about what happened.
He specified that he had ordered an additional inspection of other aspects of the operation of our air bases. And he assured that if there are gaps in the activities of certain commanders, disciplinary punishments will be imposed. On the subject of flying hours, the minister said that the two pilots had more than 100 hours a year, which was within the requirements.
If our army copes with the shortage of personnel at an accelerated pace, it will not be necessary to introduce conscription, the Minister of Defense also commented. "But with regard to the training of citizens to protect the Fatherland, this is another constitutional norm. It exists even now - a voluntary training program. It was aimed at creating a voluntary reserve in our armed forces. But most people who voluntarily complete this training become soldiers. And so our mobilization stocks are getting old. That's the big question we have to think about," he concluded.