Konekäännös bulgarialaisesta lehtijutusta, jossa arvioidaan hävittäjähankintaa.
With secret criteria, the cabinet chose Swedish Gripen fighters
The deal for new military aircraft worth 1.5 billion leva should be approved by the parliament
At one of his last sessions, before a regular cabinet was set up, the government decided that the supply of new fighters for the army for 1.5 billion leva would be best done by SAAB, the Swedish manufacturer of Gripen aircraft. The decision was taken in a closed session, the document examined being classified for classified information. The election was unofficially confirmed from sources in the government to various media. In practice, the cabinet has approved the rankings and analysis of bids made by the military ministry. On Monday, the ministry announced that the working group has completed its work and will deliver the results to the Council of Ministers. Detailed offers, as well as the criteria for evaluating the working group, are not publicly known.
Both the Prime Minister and Secretary of Defense Stefan Yanev denied their cabinet has pre-arranged the deal. Both were categorical to journalists after the meeting that the current government left the next one to negotiate with whom to conclude the deal. "The final decision whether to buy fighters from Sweden, Portugal or Italy will be the next cabinet," Yanev said. The deal must also be approved by parliament because it is an interstate agreement worth more than 100 million euros. But after a public choice was made, the next cabinet would hardly justify any change.
The choice
Bulgaria selected between three proposals - the new Swedish Gripen planes, F-16 second-hand fighters from Portugal and the USA and second-hand fighters Eurofighter from Italy. According to Mediapool, the main reason for the choice is the more advantageous offer of the Swedish producer - within BGN 1 billion, as well as a deferred payment for a longer period. According to Sega newspaper, the shorter delivery time was also influenced by 18 months from the signing of the contract.
Since neither selection criteria nor bids are public, it is actually very difficult to say what exactly has prevailed for the opinion of the working group. For example, it is unclear whether armaments are included in the price of Swedish machines, while the American ones are offered with their weaponry. It is only clear that the former Air Force Commander and current President Rumen Radev insisted on the purchase of new aircraft.
A long way
After two decades of discussion and reflection, the investment project to acquire a new type of combat aircraft was finally approved on April 1, 2016 and provides for the acquisition of 8 aircraft in the period 2018 - 2020 for a price up to 1.5 billion leva. This is the first of three upcoming big military deals. The other two are for new ships and armored vehicles, which will cost more than 2 billion leva. They will be paid in installments over the next few years.
At the end of 2016, without much noise, the military ministry, then under the reign of Borisov 2, resigned to the first real phase of the procedure for the purchase of a new squadron of Western multi-purpose combat aircraft. The Office sent a request for binding bids to the embassies of four countries - Italy, Sweden, Portugal and the United States. The plus of this direct negotiation with other countries is that the procedure is faster and there is no way to get endless appeals under the Public Procurement Act. The bottom line is that the solution can be highly politicized and not taken on fair and clear rules.
The State's request contained the specific parameters and requirements for the fighters concerned, as well as the manner in which bids will be assessed. Based on this, the four countries have sent their parameters to a possible future deal.
At the beginning of the week it became clear that the military ministry's staff had already "completed the analysis, evaluation and summary" of the offers and would present the results of the competition, The tender selected for approval by the Council of Ministers. Thus, on Wednesday, the government approved the elected provider, which the parliament must do.
The variants
The up-to-date favorite was the American F-16, which, although old, has been upgraded and has known features. Although the machines available were even older than the MIG-29s available in Bulgaria, and in the United States the older units are already being used for aerial targets, they are maintained and have quite high equipment characteristics. Since Romania has already bought the F-16 offered by Portugal, for Bulgaria it was necessary to find aircraft from the US reserves, which have yet to be fundamentally repaired and upgraded. Their main advantage, however, was that the United States stood behind them with all their resources and competence.
Gripen undoubtedly are more modern aircraft, but to realize its full benefits, Bulgaria has to invest a lot of additional funds. For example, they can use tanks sensors and other terrestrial machines, but there is simply no such high-tech equipment in the Bulgarian army. Machine maintenance is also difficult to carry out locally, and even smaller repairs should be done in Sweden, as the Czech and Hungarian experience shows. Eurofighter, without doubt, is extremely expensive for the native Air Force.
However, these analyzes are just speculation. Unlike many countries, such as Belgium or Norway, who publish quite detailed information on how to choose their warplanes, native warriors, always overwhelmed by the shadow of doubt, chose to act in the dark.
Alkuperäinen bulgariankielinen artikkeli:
http://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ik...riterii_slujebniiat_kabinet_izbra_shvedskite/