12 septembre 2007
Delhi wants Bulgarian weapons
| 12 September 2007 | 05:28 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. The Government of India has asked the Bulgarian cabinet to restore the amount of weapon supplies to India as they were before 1989, it transpired after the official meeting between Bulgaria's Minister of Economy Petar Dimitrov and his Indian counterpart, the Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath. Today it will become known if a committee will be formed to negotiate the increase in the weapon supplies from Bulgaria. The official plenary meetings are due to start tomorrow early morning. Bulgaria's PM Sergey Stanishev will be welcomed in Rashtrapati Bhavan - the official residency of the President of India. After that, he will lay a wreath on Mahatma Gandhi's resting place, later, the official meeting with the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil will start. PM Stanishev will also hold talks with Sonya Gandhi - leader of the ruling coalition, Standart newspaper reported. |
08 septembre 2007
Stanishev: We Lead a Policy of Balanced Development of the Army
The army has many exigent needs and the government leads a policy of balanced modernisation of all types of armed forces. This said Bulgarian Prime minister at Plovdiv airport to a question when the Bulgarian air forces will have modern fighter aircrafts, informs BTA.
According to Stanishev the long years in which the army was not modernised have caused accumulations which cannot be compensated at once having in mind the possibilities of the state and other acute needs of the country.
Stanishev reminded of the projects which are currently being implemented: the supply of 18 new helicopter Cougar of EUROCOPTER and the forthcoming this year purchase of the first transport airplane for the Bulgarian army.
At Plovdiv airport Prime minister Stanishev watched the performance of the French demonstrative squadron “Patrouille de France”
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1545864278
04 septembre 2007
Minister Veselin Bliznakov to open Sergeant College
| 4 September 2007 | 07:23 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Veliko Tarnovo. Bulgarian Minister of Defence Veselin Bliznakov will open the second Sergeant College in the state on Tuesday in the town of Veliko Tarnovo, Radio FOCUS-Veliko Tarnovo informed. |
14 août 2007
Russia Unhappy: Bulgaria Produces Unlicensed Kalashnikov
Although the licenses for the production of Kalashnikov arms have expired in the 90es, around 35 companies outside Russia continue to produce such weapons, comments “Rosiiskaya gazera” newspaper.
The article claims that the US produce Kalashnikov together with the Bulgarian company “Arsenal” and the production goes to Iraq. Therefore, it was not by accident that the Italian police had found Bulgarian dealer in the $40M transaction aiming to supply arms to Iraq.
To remind that the Italian police prevented illegal import of over 100 thousand Kalashnikov arms in Iraq and four people were arrested.
Italy announced the arms were produced in Russia.
“Rosiiskaya gazeta”, however, firmly denied participation of Russia in the deal, determining the such information as “pure fabrication”.
The edition reminds that the former Soviet Union had organised the production of arms in 18 countries. The newspaper adds that behind the official documents pointing that the arms were for the police department in the Iraqi Anbar province, there is a conspiracy aiming to fulfill the needs of the American army.
http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_1618609571
11 août 2007
Council of Ministers will decide on buying new ships for Naval Forces in September, says General Zlatan Stoykov
| 11 August 2007 | 14:37 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Varna. Bulgaria will have submarines, ships and naval forces, chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces General Zlatan Stoykov has announced in Varna. He was there to attend the opening of a renovated sports complex of the naval base in the city, a journalist of Radio FOCUS – Varna reported. Stoykov added that Bulgaria is now an EU and NATO marine border to the east, which adds further importance to the issue. |
04 août 2007
AmCham in Bulgaria to Develop Database of Bulgarian Companies
The American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria is developing a project for the creation of a database of Bulgarian companies, which want to carry out joint work with US ones in the area of military equipment.
The database will become the main source of information for the US companies, which can compare Bulgarian companies and chose the one that would be their best partner in the country.
The project will include the registered firms in five Bulgarian regions - Yambol, Sliven, Plovdiv, Burgas and Stara Zagora.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=83809
03 juillet 2007
ANALYSIS NEEDED TO DETERMINE BULGARIA’S ARMY MODERNISATION PRIORITIES
Political decision is needed to determine Bulgaria’s army modernisation priorities.
Such decision could be taken during a meeting of the ruling coalition’s council, Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov said.
Army modernisation could be carried out only if Bulgaria allocated at least 2.6 per cent of its GDP to defence, he said. Provision of funds for modernisation exclusively was unlikely.
Bliznakov said that the ministry wanted to see the involvement of Bulgarian companies in planning, execution and monitoring of army modernisation projects. The ministry was now acting only as purchaser or client, an attitude that had to change.
On July 2, Bliznakov attended a forum on Bulgarian and Italian defence industry. Representatives of the two countries signed a co-operation memorandum in the sphere.
27 juin 2007
New head of Security, Military Police and Military Counter-Intelligence to be proposed Monday at the latest
| 26 June 2007 | 12:51 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Charalitsa. Defense Minister Vesselin Bliznakov will propose to PM Stanishev a project for the appointment of a new head of the Security, Military Police and Military Counter-Intelligence Service. At a press conference on occasion of the trilateral drilling Danube Sentry 2007 at the National Military Drilling Complex Charalitsa Minister Bliznakov noted the service has enough experienced people to fulfill these duties, a journalist of FOCUS News Agency reported. |
17 juin 2007
Bulgaria spearheads development of NATO anti-RPG armor
NATO has spurred the development of strap-on armor to shield helicopters from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). The strap-on armor is now ready to move beyond the laboratory to operational testing.
"We've now reached the stage where our researchers need to start working with industry to look at risk assessment and how to develop strap-on prototypes for various helicopter models," said Lt. Colonel. Krasimir Parashkevov, the representative of Bulgaria's national armaments director, at the country's permanent delegation to NATO.
Launched in early 2005 as part of NATO's 2004 Defense Against Terrorism program to develop 10 kinds of technologies, the anti-RPG effort is being run by Bulgaria, Greece and Poland. The basic research is being performed by Bulgaria's Academy of Science's metallurgy branch, which has for 20 years focused on materials for military application.
While technology details remain classified, Parashkevov said the project is largely an effort to improve on existing armor for ground vehicles. The strap-on armor uses three layers of ceramics, gel and new materials. The armor is designed to neutralize an RPG's fuse, which is mounted at the tip of the incoming weapon. A second belt of armor will be added to protect a helicopter's most vulnerable areas, such as fuel tanks, from the debris generated when an RPG shatters against the armor.
When first tested in 2005, the new armor neutralized half of all charges fired against it. By October 2006, in demonstrations in Bulgaria, it was turning away 80 percent of them, Parashkevov said.
"Our system disables the RPG's fuse upon contact with the shield. It's a fairly simple method, though it still needs more work. It's still not light enough for air vehicles, but it's effective against attack," Parashkevov said.
Poland will investigate the strap-on armor's aerodynamic impact on helicopters in wind-tunnel tests, while Greece will provide equipment and experts to help Bulgaria test the kinetic impact of RPGs against the helicopter's fuselage.
The RPG-7 is the most common rocket-propelled grenade in use today. It was developed by Russia during World War II and improved upon, since then. RPG-7s are used by armies, terrorists and rebels around the globe. RPG-7s downed U.S. helicopters in Somalia in 1993 and more recently in Iraq.
http://rfdesign.com/military_defense_electronics/news/bulgaria-nato-antirpg-0523/
Bulgaria to purchase Boeings together with NATO
| 16 June 2007 | 03:24 | FOCUS News Agency |
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Sofia. Fifteen NATO member countries, including Bulgaria, are going to purchase three Boeing C-17 strategic airlifters to transport worldwide troops and military supplies, Bulgarian Defence Minister Vesselin Bliznakov reported from Brussels, the venue of this year's summit of the NATO Member States Defence Ministers. The aircraft are a part of NATO's Project for Strategic Transport Aviation. For co-financing the project, Bulgaria will be granted 65 flying hours annually, Bliznakov added. However, no steps towards the project implementation will be made for now, because France, Spain, and Germany raised objections, as the English online edition of Standart newspaper reported. |